


Familial Bonds

by Clockworkpulse



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Fudges with the timeline, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mpreg, Kidnapping, M/M, Mild Smut, Neal is a dad, Protective Neal, Protective Peter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockworkpulse/pseuds/Clockworkpulse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After three months, Neal Caffrey breaks out of prison. Peter gives chase and discovers something about Neal he didn't know.<br/>Neal is determined to do anything and everything to protect and stay with his son. A deal is made but things are never so easy.</p><p>[BEING REWRITTEN]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Deal

Three months. Three months in a supermax prison and Neal Caffrey was able to break out. It took years to catch him, thousands of hours of work and manpower for him to only be found guilty of bond forgery and then in three months he managed to pull a prison break.

Peter cursed the incompetence of the prison guards for not recognizing Caffrey as he waltzed out the front door of the prison.

He’d caught Caffrey before, he could do it again. Caffrey had just bought himself another four years for escaping if not life imprisonment. And for what? For the simple fact of not wanting to be locked up? Couldn’t be, his escape smelled of a special type of desperation. It just made Peter wonder what it was all for.

~

Tracking down Neal was easier this time around. He didn’t exactly try to flee the city, no, he had returned to the apartment he had resided in before being locked up. Peter went in alone, telling everybody to hang back while he spoke to Caffrey. The man was far from dangerous. Peter wasn’t worried.

When it came to Neal, Peter was proud to say that he knew everything about the man. He was pretty confident in that but as it would turn out, when he stepped into that apartment, he was wrong.

Neal’s back was to Peter, obstructing his view from whatever Neal was holding. Peter stopped in his tracks when a small voice spoke up.

“Daddy, too tight.”

“Sorry,” Neal mumbled as he relaxed his hold. He tensed up again when Peter’s foot landed on a too squeaky floorboard. Looking up and back to see who had entered the apartment, all the color in Neal’s face drained but he didn’t look surprised.

“Caffrey.” It was then that Peter caught a glimpse of who Neal was holding, a little boy who looked so much like a tiny version of Neal.

“Peter please, he’s only four,” Neal pleaded. There was such a sadness in his eyes. Peter simply closed his own and inhaled deeply.

~

“So you’re telling me that Caffrey has a son?” Jones said, air of disbelief in his voice.

“Yeah,” Peter replied animatedly. The boy was sitting in one of the chairs in the briefing room of the White Collar Crimes Division, tiny legs kicking back and forth.

“Well he certainly looks like Neal,” Diana chimed in. “Where’s Caffrey right now?”

“Downstairs speaking to his lawyer. I’m going to go talk to the kid.”

Jones turned to Diana when Peter walked off. He still couldn’t believe that they didn’t know Caffrey had a kid and that they hadn’t found him when they searched the conman’s apartment.

“Did you know that Caffrey had a kid?”

“Not one damn clue.”

~

The boy’s kicking stopped when Peter entered the room. His eyes followed the agent as the man made his way to the table and placed a juice box on it. Both parties only continued to stare at each other. Peter cleared his throat, not entirely sure what to say.

“Where’s my daddy?” the boy finally chirped up.

“He’s using the phone. We can get him up here in a second.” The boy nodded. It was clear that he was waiting for Neal to enter the room. Peter excused himself for just a moment to tell Diana to get them to send Neal up to the briefing room. 

He should be getting hauled back to prison right now but with the kid, it complicated things and Neal had demanded to be able to speak to his lawyer. He was cooking up something Peter was sure.

It was only about five minutes before Neal came in but with the awkward silence between Peter and the boy it felt a helluva lot longer.

“Daddy!” The boy squealed happily.

“Nicky.” Neal moved over to the boy swiftly, bringing him into a hug. The boy, Nicky, clung to Neal. Both held onto each other tightly. Peter could just imagine the two of them against the world. 

No, he couldn’t get soft right now, Caffrey was still a felon. A felon who had broken out of prison. Kid or not, he’d have to go back and Nicky would have to be put into the system. Oh God, the system.

Peter watched as Neal took a seat, Nicky on his lap. He was smiling brightly at the boy as he brushed his son’s hair back.

“You need a haircut.” Nicky shook his head, putting his tiny hands firmly atop his head as if to protect his hair. Neal chuckled at that. He looked up at Peter then, suddenly serious.

“I’d like to make a deal.”

“Excuse me?” Peter raised an eyebrow at that. Neal was in no damn position to be demanding this.

“I know you’re having trouble catching the Dutchman. I can help you. In exchange, I want out of a prison sentence. You can slap a tracking anklet on me, I don’t care. And I want my son to remain with me. I won’t be separated from him again. My lawyer said he can get the necessary paperwork done by tomorrow.”

Peter was dumbfounded at what Neal had just rattled off. There’s no way the offer would be approved. Not when it came to Caffrey.

~

Much to Peter’s amazement as well as just about everybody else’s, Neal’s proposition had been approved. The proper documents were signed and a techy came in to outfit Neal with his special new accessory that he’d be wearing for the next four years.

“Daddy, are you gonna leave again?” Nicky asked after the anklet had been firmly put on.

“No, Nicky, never again. I promise,” he said, brushing the boy’s hair back and giving him a sad little smile.

“Okay.” That seemed to suit Nicky just fine.

“Let’s make something clear, Caffrey,” Peter spoke up finally. “You are mine for the next four years. If you do anything, and I mean _anything_ , illegal, you’re going back to prison.” He left out the _‘and your son goes into the system’_ part but it was left hanging heavily in the air.

“I understand.”

“Good. The FBI has already set up a place for you and Nicky to live while you work out the rest of your sentence.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

~

“You’re kidding, right?” Neal asked in the hallway of the sleazy hotel. Nicky was clutching onto his jacket tightly, big blue eyes scanning the area.

“It’s seven hundred a month. The FBI isn’t going to dish out more cash for a convicted felon. If you can find better for the same amount in your radius then you’re free to move but given that’s doubtful, this is the best we can do,” Peter explained. “There’s a thrift shop down the block you can go to to get clothes for you and Nicky, by the way. Might be good to go and expand your wardrobes.”

“Yeah,” Neal mumbled.

“I’ll be back tomorrow to pick you up.”

~

He had about four hundred dollars stuffed into his wallet. At a thrift store it could get them quite a fair amount of things. This was just like when he had first arrived in New York. Low on money, living in a shitty little place, having to buy second hand clothes. Only now he had Nicky and it killed Neal that they were like this. 

He had told himself he’d leave the country with Nicky the second his last big score was over but he had been caught. Caught and locked up for three months with Nicky on the outside and nobody in the FBI knew of the boy’s existence and he had been alone. If anything had happened to Nicky, Neal would have died.

Arriving at the thrift store, Nicky held the door open for an elderly woman who was just leaving. She smiled brightly down at the boy.

“Oh, what a little gentleman you are. Thank you, darling.”

“You’re welcome.” Neal couldn’t help but grin. A four year old kid had more manners than half the people in New York.

“Come on, Daddy.”

“I’m coming.” He stepped inside the thrift store with Nicky and began to look around. They weren’t in the store for very long when an elegant looking woman came in with a whole bundle of suits to give away. Neal immediately turned on the charm.

“Those are fantastic.”

“They belonged to my late husband, Byron,” the woman said. Man had had an incredibly good taste in suits. Neal began to look them over including the hat when Nicky poked his head out from behind Neal’s leg. The woman noticed the boy then.

“Well hello. And you are?”

“This is my son, Nicholas.”

“Hello Nicholas, I’m June.”

“Hello,” Nicky mumbled shyly. “You look nice.” June and Neal smiled widely at that.

“You look nice too. Very dashing, like your father.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetie.”

“Hey,” Neal started, “do you…live around here?”

“I live close by.” Neal’s smile only grew.

~

Peter arrived at the hotel early the next morning. They got a lead and he had to grab Neal (and Nicky) and go. Maybe he’d bring up a babysitter to Neal, couldn’t be bringing the kid to the office all the time.

“I’m here for Neal Caffrey.”

“Oh yeah, snake eyes. Nice guy, left this for you.” The man behind the desk handed Peter a piece of paper. Opening it up he saw a small note written to him informing Peter that Neal and Nicky had moved one point six miles away. Well damn.

~

This was the best they’d eaten in a long time. Hell, best place they had lived in. Nicky had only ever known that little apartment. It had been his home for all four of his years and the grandiose house they were in now was overwhelming for the four year old.

Neal was just glad he’d managed to find a better place to live. No way was he going to stay in a dingy hotel where prostitutes hung out near the entrance. Not with his son.

The guest room was like an apartment in and of itself, smaller than Neal’s old one but it was still so much nicer and there was plenty of room for him and Nicky. One bed but that was fine. Nicky always slept in Neal’s bed anyway even as a baby he had stayed safely tucked next to Neal.

Neal smiled at Nicky and ruffled his hair. He’d been alone for three months. Neal had had about twenty-thousand dollars hidden in the apartment that Nicky knew the location of. Turns out the boy had hidden incredibly well while the apartment was being cleared out and then he’d taken the twenty-thousand and went to get food with it. It was a miracle that the four year old had managed. Neal was thankful that he had.

Peter came up to the roof soon after, his look of utter disbelief returning at the view.

“Peter, you’re early.”

“Yeah well, we got a lead. But before that, how did you con your way into this place?”

“I didn’t. I went to the thrift store like you said and June-”

“Lady with the dog. We met.”

“-Was there giving away her husband’s suits. We started talking and she had an open guest room. You said if I could find something better for the same price that I should take it.”

“Yeah, I did say that. And apparently you have a horseshoe shoved up your…” Peter trailed off and looked at Nicky who was staring up at him. Peter cleared his throat, “you know where.”

Neal just smiled cheekily.

“Nicky, go get dressed, okay?” Nicky nodded and got out of the chair. He smiled at Peter as he passed by him to go inside. Once Nicky was inside, Neal turned back to Peter.

“All this for seven hundred a month, huh?”

“I also have some chores to do for June.”

“Hard ones I’m sure,” Peter said sarcastically.

“Not too bad. Coffee?”

“Yeah, sure.” Peter took a seat and poured himself a cup. It smelled fancy and tasted it too. Some French Roast or something, rich people loved that crap and honestly tasting it, he didn’t blame them. “So…Nicky?”

“It’s short for Nicholas. Nicholas Michael Caffrey.”

“Nice name.”

“Thanks.”

“So who’s his mother?”

“Father. Who’s his other father.” Peter stopped for a moment and looked at Neal. A quiet ‘oh’ left him. “And I’d rather not say. It doesn’t matter.”

“Didn’t end well then I take it?”

“I should get dressed. We have to get going, right?”

“Right.”

~

Peter looked at his watch for the sixth time in the last ten minutes. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs in the main house waiting for Neal and Nicky. He was about to yell up the stairs when he finally saw the two appear, the boy balanced on his father’s hip with a black hat clutched in his tiny fists. The hat was clearly Neal’s, being too big for the child.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Nicky reached up to place the hat atop Neal’s head. Neal grinned at the boy and uttered a ‘thank you’ to him.

“You look like a cartoon character,” Peter commented.

“This is classic rat pack,” Neal countered.

“Right. You ready?”

“Ready. Let’s go catch a con.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *makes nervous noises*


	2. Enter Mozzie

Four years on a tracking anklet was a small price to pay to be able to stay with his son. Just as long as he didn’t do anything illegal whilst working with the FBI. Forging things for cases, now that was different, that was allowed and not constituted as illegal. So that was a free pass.

Once the four years were up and he was given his freedom, he would take off to another country with Nicky, start over somewhere else. He was fond of France. Only problem was that the twenty-thousand hidden in his old apartment was the only money he had left after the FBI was done seizing everything else and after a three month period of Nicky having to venture out and get food and other necessities to take care of himself, it was less than twenty-thousand. That wouldn’t get them anywhere. The seven-hundred a month from the FBI was for room and board only. Essentially, Neal wasn’t getting paid a damn cent.

It’s his future plans that tempted him to maybe start pulling some cons behind the FBI’s back but the prospect of losing his son and being thrown back into prison is what stopped him. Peter was smart, Peter had caught him twice and he’d catch him again eventually if he tried to do some type of illegal activity once more. Neal was as they say ‘shit outta luck’. He supposed he could hustle pool or go to Central Park and bet big on a few Three-card Monte games like he did when he first got to New York years ago. God knows he paid for his rent most of the time that way.

About a dozen different ways to earn money without getting utterly screwed raced through his head as he looked up from the file he was reading over. A smile came to Neal’s face as he looked out of the briefing room and into the bullpen. Nicky was sitting atop Jones’s desk as the man showed him a card trick, the boy grinning widely and clapping to show his appreciation of it.

He was glad Hughes had allowed Nicky to hang out in the offices. If Nicky was safe anywhere, it was surrounded by dozens of FBI Agents with guns ready to defend the boy at the drop of a hat. Another thing he was thankful for was how the agents seemed to consider Nicky as part of their family. Probably helped that Nicky was polite, well-behaved, and didn’t get in the way of anybody’s work.

Jones was saying something to Nicky. The boy nodded and Jones helped him off the desk and then the boy was making his way to the briefing room. Poking his head in, he looked at Neal, clearly unsure if it was okay to come in or not.

“Come here, buddy.” The boy happily complied, entering the room and taking a seat next to his father. Peter silently slid over a notepad and a pen which Nicky took up and began to sketch on the notepad with. It was mostly quiet in the room after that, only sounds being the occasional turn of a page and the scratching of the pen on the paper. And it stayed that way until an agent opened the door.

“Agent Burke, you have a call.” Nicky’s face suddenly lit up at that. He looked from the paper to Peter and then to Neal. Pointing at Peter and with a big smile on his face, Nicky proudly proclaimed:

“Burke the Jerk.” By the way the other agent bit her bottom lip, it was clear she was trying not to burst out laughing at that. Peter looked less than amused and gave Neal a hard look. Oh if looks could kill.

“Neal.”

Neal didn’t look up from the papers.

“ _Neal._ ” Still refusing to look up. “You’re lucky I have a call right now. But we’re talking about that later, you’re not getting off that easily.” Once Peter left the room, Nicky looked over at Neal again.

“Oops.”

“Yeah, oops.” Nicky looked so genuinely sorry about it, large frown on his face. Neal just stared at him for a moment before tickling him, causing the frown to disappear and laughter to erupt from the boy. Much better.

~

They never did actually end up talking about it. Peter just waved it off after Neal gave him an ‘in my defense’ spiel. If Neal didn’t know any better, he would say that Peter actually looked somewhat amused by it. But he didn’t ask. He really did get off easy in the end and he wasn’t gonna push it.

Neal and Nicky ended up taking a taxi home so Peter could get to his own himself sooner rather than later. Neal didn’t want to keep him from Elizabeth much longer. Peter’s smile showed his appreciation well enough. Honestly, one could only ever hope their marriage was as happy as Peter and Elizabeth’s.

Nicky was asleep by the time the taxi got to the house. Neal carried him up to the guest room, Nicky remaining completely out the whole time. Kid was such a heavy sleeper that Neal was pretty sure he could sleep through a bomb explosion.

He gently placed the boy on the bed and felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. A nap wasn’t a bad idea, actually. Neal wasn’t big on napping but he could make an exception once in awhile. And so he toed off his shoes and slung his suit jacket and vest over the back of a chair before settling into bed next to Nicky and dozing off.

~

Burke the Jerk. Elizabeth found that just _hilarious_. She and Peter were discussing how their days had gone and in the middle of talking about his, Peter brought up how he found out about the nickname Neal had for him before he was caught. Elizabeth had tried not to laugh, really she did, but in the end she failed spectacularly.

“Well at least you’re amused.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just imagining Nicky saying that how you described. Oh, it’s funny and so cute at the same time.”

“It was kind of cute,” Peter mumbled.

“You know that reminds me, we should invite Neal and Nicky over for dinner soon. I haven’t seen them for a while, it’d be nice and I think Satch misses Nicky.” The dog in question lifted his head to look at El and Peter for a moment before resting it back on his paws. When Neal and Nicky had showed up at the Burke’s residence that first time, Satchmo was practically glued to Nicky’s side which was no surprise to either Burke. Satch loved kids. Loved everything actually, if they were being honest.

“I’ll ask him at the office tomorrow,” Peter said. “So what’s for dinner tonight?”

“Takeout.”

“I’ll go grab the menu.”

~

Neal couldn’t have been asleep for more than half an hour when there was knocking at his door. Opening his eyes, he listened for a moment. He would recognize that knocking anywhere.

Neal moved to get up but was stopped by the fact that his arm was effectively trapped under Nicky. Carefully he extracted it. Unsurprisingly the boy remained asleep. Seriously, bomb explosion.

When he opened the door, Neal was face to face with exactly who he expected.

“Mozzie.”

“Neal. Took me long enough to find you.”

“Didn’t know you were looking for me.”

“I have been since I got back to the city.”

“Got back to the city? That’s why Nicky was alone those three months?”

“What are you talking about?

“I went to prison, Moz.”

"Whoa, what? When?”

“Almost five months ago. I ended up breaking out of a supermax prison.”

“That’s very bold.”

“Yeah well I had to. Couldn’t leave Nicky for four years and when you didn’t give me any sort of sign that you were taking care of him, I got desperate,” Neal explained. “Now I know why you didn’t.”

It wasn’t even strange for Moz not to tell him when he’d be disappearing for a time to go do something or the other. Only thing is, he really could have used Moz a few months ago, would have made prison a little more tolerable knowing that Nicky was being looked after by somebody close to him. But the past was the past and Nicky was fine, that was the important thing.

“I didn’t know you got caught. If I did I would have come back sooner.”

“I know you would have, Mozzie.”

“But now that you’re out I can get you and Nicky out of the country. Just say the word and you’ll be on a plane tomorrow.”

“Yeah that’s going to be a problem,” Neal said, lifting up his pant leg to showcase the anklet.

“Oh we can get that off with a pair of scissors.”

“I don’t think so, Moz. I can’t afford to do anything that could lead me to be separated from Nicky again. I cut this or do any illegal cons and Peter catches me, I’m being hauled back to prison faster than you can come up with a conspiracy for the Kennedy assassination.”

“I do have a theory about that, you know.”

“I’m sure, Moz. Listen, there _is_ one favor you can do for me.”

“Am I going to like this favor?”

“You have no choice.”

“Alright.”

“The next time you think it’s a good idea to leave the city, don’t. At least not until Nicky is about eighteen.”

“I can do that.”

~

Mozzie stayed for a few hours, long enough for Nicky to wake up and greet him excitedly. A call of ‘uncle Mozzie’ signaling to both men that the boy was awake. While he chatted to Moz about how things had been going the last few months, Neal got to work on dinner. It was already a little later than when they normally ate and he was sure Nicky would be complaining that he was hungry soon enough.

He was about halfway through preparing the meal when he turned to look at Mozzie who was explaining to Nicky how to create a fake ID.

“Moz. Mozzie, no. We’re trying to make sure Nicky _doesn’t_ become a con in the future.”

“Plenty of people make fake IDs and don’t go on to become cons.”

“Moz.”

“Fine, lesson over.”

“Thank you. Besides, if he ever needs an ID he has us.” Not that it would be a necessity under most circumstances but God knows what could pop up at any given time. “You staying for dinner or are you leaving?”

“Leaving, I have places to be.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later then.”

“See you around.” Before Mozzie left, he turned to face Neal one more time. “I’m serious just so you know. If you and Nicky ever need to flee the country, tell me and I can hook you up and get you out of here.”

“Thank you, Moz. I appreciate it.” When Mozzie left, Neal looked down at his ankle and focused on the part of the tracker that was poking out from underneath his trousers.

Just four years, two weeks, and six days to go.

He could do this. He had to do this. Just four years, two weeks, and six days more of playing nice with the Feds and the second the anklet came off, he’d be packing up his and Nicky’s things and they’d be on the first flight out of the States.

They would start over in another country where nobody knew who they were and maybe Neal would even look for some honest work. Peter was a testament to how one would always get caught eventually and prisons in other countries weren’t as much of a slap on the wrist as American ones. That honest work was looking more tempting the more he thought about it.

That was all he could do at this point, really. Think and plan and slowly make preparations. Four years was quite a long time. There was no rush to get things done but he really did need to start collecting money. Mozzie would help him but Neal did need to help himself as well. Yeah, he could this.

Just four years, two weeks, and six days more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter.2! Thank you for all the lovely comments. Plot will be introduced soon enough. :)


	3. Stakeout

Stakeouts had to be the single most boring task in all of Law Enforcement, even beating out the dullness of paperwork. If Neal had to choose between staring at boring paperwork all day and sitting in a car doing virtually nothing for hours upon hours, he’d choose the paperwork in a heartbeat.

He and Peter shouldn’t be sitting in the car right now. They both should be at Peter and Elizabeth’s home having dinner with Elizabeth and Nicky but as it was, a recent case interrupted their dinner plans so while they were sitting in a car on Fifth Avenue while the other two were at the house having that dinner.

“Elizabeth certainly seemed happy enough despite the fact we couldn’t stay for dinner,” Neal spoke up. It had been quiet in the car for far too long and if they didn’t start talking, the boredom was going to lull him to sleep.

“Oh believe me, she was upset that we wouldn’t be there but Elizabeth loves kids so Nicky being there was at least enough to keep her in a good mood,” Peter explained. Missing out on dinners was hardly a surprise to Elizabeth at this point, she was good at hiding her disappointment and upset over it but Peter knew. You don’t live with someone for a decade and not pick up on that kind of stuff.

“So if she likes kids and you like kids, though how inept you are at speaking to them some people wouldn’t think so, why don’t you and Elizabeth have any?” Neal inquired. Peter gave a light shrug.

“Not the right time, work getting in the way. There’s a dozen reasons why.”

“But eventually you two want some?”

“Eventually,” Peter confirmed. It was interesting that Peter and Elizabeth, both with steady jobs and a house who planned for children in their life did not have any but Neal who had been a con man for years with varying ranges of rewards who did not configure children into his life for years if ever, did have a child.

“I take it you weren’t planning on Nicky,” Peter said carefully.

“No. No I wasn’t.” Nicky had been an accident. One he never thought would happen but it had and despite that he wouldn’t take back anything that led to Nicky existing. Well, almost anything. He might change Nicky’s other father. “It was tough when he came along. I didn’t have a lot of money let alone a steady source of income and babies are expensive. I honestly didn’t think I could do it.”

“But against all odds, you did.”

“Yeah. I found a way to make it work even if it was a struggle.”

“It’s also around the time you started pulling off bigger cons,” Peter said. Neal gave a slight nod.

“I started doing it for Nicky. Hoping to score big. Millions. And then getting us out of the country and into a better life. Was close to doing just that when you caught me,” Neal continued. “I want Nicky to have better than I ever did. It’s a cliché but you really do always want more for your kids.”

“Next you’ll be saying being a parent is the best thing in the world,” Peter joked lightly. Neal didn’t seem to be in a joking mood because he still looked so serious.

“It is. Nicky’s the best thing to ever happen to me. I don’t know if I ever would have thought about going straight if it wasn’t for him.” Because Neal always knew prison was a possibility. Got into the con game knowing full well the consequences but that didn’t stop him. It wasn’t until Nicky came along that he decided that at some point he’d need to stop before he got caught. He even gave serious thought to going to college and getting a degree in business and getting a steady job. Once they started over somewhere else, of course.

“Being a parent isn’t easy especially when you’re a single one who doesn’t have any money when you figure out that soon enough another human being will be coming into the world and it’s your responsibility to take care of them. And it’s not easy when you’re always afraid you’re doing something wrong or might accidentally hurt them or they’ll hurt themselves or somebody else will. Being a parent is like signing your life away to endless worry but even with that, being a parent is one of the best things in the world.”

Peter was completely silent. He didn’t know what to say. He certainly hadn’t expected Neal to suddenly lay all of that out and from the look on Neal’s face, neither did he.

“I got carried away.”

“It’s fine. I don’t suspect that you get to talk about that very much. And it was nice to hear what I should be expecting in the future.” That got a chuckle out of Neal.

“Yeah but we both know you’ll be tailing your kid when they get older just to ease your worry.”

“I could always do the same for Nicky if you want.” They shared a smile, Neal appreciating the offer. The smile fell from his face as his eyes wandered though. He was looking past Peter now with a raised eyebrow.

“Peter. Isn’t that our suspect?”

Peter whipped around in the car seat to see a blonde woman climbing down an awning from a third storey window.

“Son of a-” Peter was pushing open his door before the sentence fully left his mouth. The woman was down now and making a run for it and Peter was ready to run after her.

“Should I stay in the car or…” Peter was already gone, running down the street and paying no mind to Neal now. “I’ll just stay in the car then.”

~

At the Burke’s residence, Nicky and Elizabeth were playing a game of _Go Fish_. Satchmo was closeby, sleeping contently. He was given a plate of his own of what Elizabeth had cooked up that night. There was still enough food left over in case Neal and Peter were hungry when they came back. If they even came back that night. She knew very well that stakeouts could last a few days.

“Have any three’s?” The sentence had just barely left Elizabeth when the door to the house was opened. Nicky jumped up in the next second, big grin on his face and raced to the door.

“Daddy!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around Neal’s legs.

“Hey, buddy. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. Aunty El and I are playing _Go Fish_.” Aunty El. That’s what Nicky had quickly begun to call Elizabeth after meeting her. And yet Peter was always Mr. Peter. In Nicky’s four year old mind it made perfect sense to him.

“Oh yeah? Were you winning?”

“No. Aunty El is really good,” he said with a slight pout that brought a chuckle out of Neal. He turned his attention to El then and greeted her.

“Hey, Neal. Where’s Peter?”

“He’s at the office. Our suspect was making a run for it. He got her and we brought her back for questioning. He won’t be much longer he was pretty much done when he told me I should go.” Elizabeth nodded in understanding and stood up, placing her cards down on the table.

“Hope he wasn’t too much trouble,” Neal said.

“Not at all. I’m always happy to watch him when you need me to. We had fun, right Nicky?”

“Right!” They gave each other a high five and a smile.

“Thanks, Elizabeth.”

“No problem. It’s been a long night and you look tired. You should get going and get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I could use that about now. We’ll be seeing you.”

“Bye, Neal. Bye, Nicky.”

“Bye, Aunty El.”

~

Almost finished to Peter apparently meant another hour and a half. It was nearing midnight when he finally got home. He knew that Neal would have stayed in the office with him the whole time until he was well and truly done but Peter didn’t want to keep him there for so long because of Nicky. So he told Neal to go and nearly fought with him to even get him out of the building.

But he’d made some real headway while questioning their suspect and if the information she gave was correct they could close the case tomorrow. But he’d worry about that _tomorrow_. Right now he was exhausted. He just wanted to be in bed with his wife and dead to the world for a few hours before having to get up and go back to work.

Satchmo greeted him at the door. Elizabeth came out of the kitchen a moment later, drying her hands on a towel.

“Hey, honey. I was expecting you back a little sooner.”

“Yeah. Sorry, took longer than I thought it would.”

“Well the important thing is that you’re home now.” Elizabeth planted a kiss on him that felt heavenly after both the hectic and ploddingly slow day he had had. “Hungry?”

“Not right now. Too tired to feel hungry.”

“Go head upstairs then. I’ll be right up, just need to finish washing a few more things.”

“It’s fine, I can wait.”

“If you say so,” Elizabeth said with a slight shrug as she walked back towards the kitchen, Peter following close behind.

“You know, Neal gave me some pointers on what we can expect when we become parents.”

“Oh yeah? And what were those?”

~

Why did kids have so much energy even at night? Nicky wasn’t tired in the slightest when they got home. Never failed that when a parent wanted to sleep, the kids were always bouncing off the walls. And little kids had so much energy. Neal honestly didn’t know how such a tiny person stored so much of it.

“But Daddy, I’m not sleepy,” Nicky protested as Neal helped him pull on his pajamas.

“Can you at least try to sleep?” Nicky seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding slowly. It was almost midnight now. They had gotten home quite a while ago but Nicky was so active that Neal couldn’t settle him down for a long time. Ninety-nine percent of the time Nicky was a perfect little angel and the other one percent of the time he was hyperactive and didn’t listen. This was one of those one percent moments.

When Neal stood up, his hip actually made a loud popping sound. He was way too young for that to be happening but given he had spent nearly four hours sitting uncomfortably in Peter’s car not moving, it was bound to happen.

Nicky had settled down in bed but was still very much awake when Neal collapsed in it himself.

“Go to sleep,” he said, voice muffled by the pillow. Neal didn’t get to see if Nicky obeyed, passing out soon after giving the command.

~

Halfway across the world a black chess piece, the king, moved one space forward, inching ever closer towards a single white pawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no excuse for this chapter to have taken so long but here it is. I'm not totally proud of it but I hope it's satisfactory.


	4. Playing Pretend

A file sits open on the table in front of Peter. He was reading it just a few minutes ago but now he was distracted. All his focus was on Neal and Nicky who were sitting on the floor of June’s guest room playing. A smile played on his lips as he watched. Couldn’t help it, it was an incredibly adorable sight especially when Neal (acting as a dragon) pretended to get slain by Nicky (acting as a knight of course). Nicky laughed and clapped his hands together in self congratulation.

Seeing the family dynamic between father and son in the privacy of their home was interesting. It gave more insight into how Neal was raising Nicky that couldn’t be seen when they were in the office given Neal was doing some sort of work most of the time when there and not just sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

Peter was staying with Neal and Nicky for a few days while the wiring in his house was being fixed. It was such a mess that it was a miracle that there had never been an electrical fire in the house. Elizabeth had gone with Satchmo to a relative’s house but they were keeping in touch with daily phone calls and Skype chats which Neal had butted into on two occasions, one asking Elizabeth to tell Peter to stop sitting on his nice couch immediately after coming back from a run. The following bickering between both men made Elizabeth declare that they sounded like an old married couple. There was really no denying it, they really had sounded like such so they just kept their mouths shut while Elizabeth got a good laugh out of it.

For the most part though, rooming with Neal and Nicky was fun. Nicky was definitely giving Peter some practice for the future and it was becoming easier to talk to the kid. Speaking to kids was never Peter’s strong suit, same with not knowing what to do when a woman started crying which Neal just found so damn amusing.

“Daddy you can get up now,” Nicky said, moving closer to Neal and poking him in the arm. “Dadddyyy.” Nicky pouts when Neal still doesn’t react. He looks up at Peter who merely shrugs. “Dadddyyy.” It’s a whine now.

Suddenly Neal sits up, roaring playfully at Nicky before snatching the boy up and bringing him into his lap to tickle him. Nicky squeals with laughter, bringing a laugh out of Neal as well. Peter chuckles quietly. He knew exactly what Neal was up to when he didn’t react to Nicky at first and yet it still worked to bring a smile to his face.

“You tricked me,” Nicky accused once Neal stopped the tickling to allow Nicky to breathe.

“Did I?”

“Yes,” Nicky said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms and giving Neal a serious look. “You pretended to be dead to catch me. That’s cheating.”

“Oh, well, I’ll make sure not to do it again then,” Neal said which really meant ‘I most definitely will do it again.’

“Pinky promise.” Nicky held out his tiny pinky finger. Neal looped his own with his son’s and nodded.

“I pinky promise.”

“Okay!” Nicky grinned widely, his father’s transgression gone from his mind in that instant. “Mr. Peter should join us. He can be the King!”

“That might have to wait until later. Peter’s busy.”

“I can take a few minutes,” Peter spoke up. “It’s a pretty open and shut case. I’ll have it figured out by the end of the night.”

“Somebody sounds confident.”

“I’m good at my job. You should know, I caught you twice.” Neal rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think the second time should really count.”

“It counts in my book,” Peter said with a cheeky grin. Neal looked down at Nicky.

“Can we demote him to peasant?”

~

Not only was Peter not brought down to the rank of peasant, but Neal was moved up to the role of Queen for which Peter couldn’t stop snickering about for a good half hour. Nicky was the Prince, of course, and they acted like a happy little royal family for a good chunk of time before Peter had to get back to the file and Neal had to start making dinner. Nicky turned to playing with his toys.

Peter couldn’t help but notice how domestic it all was. Not just now but the last few days. He’d love for El to be there with them too. It would be perfect then. It should have been perfect to just think of wanting El there and it always was but-

“Peter? Hey, you there?”

“I’m here,” Peter said, eyes darting up to look at Neal who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I was asking if you’re hungry now or if you want to wait until later to eat.”

“Now is fine.”

“Thinking hard about the case?”

“Something like that.”

“Thought you said it was open and close.”

“It is. It is, just thinking something over.”

“Didn’t interrupt an important train of thought, did I?”

“No,” Peter said, brushing the whole thing away.

And that was that, there was nothing else to say. The conversation had reached a solid conclusion and so it was dropped and they moved on as every conversation that seemingly comes to a close does but something was still niggling at Peter’s brain.

~

“I found out why exactly he calls you Mr. Peter,” Neal said two morning’s later. Nicky was still asleep while Neal and Peter were having breakfast on the balcony. Neal had tried to get Nicky up before but the boy had merely mumbled something incoherent and fell right back to sleep. Neal decided to just let his son sleep a little longer.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because of Peter Rabbit,” Neal said with a smirk. “He always refers to him as Mr. Peter.”

“Should I be insulted or…?”

“Flattered, I’d say. He loves Peter Rabbit. Even asked a few days before you caught me if we could get a rabbit. No doubt he’d name it Peter too.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I’d get him one eventually,” Neal answered. He would. But right now was not the time neither was the time before that. Neal’s life never really worked out to make time for things like getting pets or living normally. Hell, it wasn’t even ideal for raising a child and it was a miracle he was even doing that half as well as he was.

“It is going to have to be a brown one?”

“I’m sure it will,” Neal chuckled.

“Whenever you’re ready to get one I know a guy who raises them. I can go with you to pick one up for Nicky.”

“Thank you, Peter,” Neal said, smiling warmly at the other.

~

They didn’t think they looked like anything more than two men having a conversation but apparently to others they looked like much more than that.

Nicky asked to go to the park shortly after he woke up and Neal agreed to take him there before they had to head into work and Peter tagged along. Halfway through discussing something that Neal _allegedly_ did, a woman walked up to them, big grin on her face.

“Hi, is that your son over there?”

“Yes,” Neal answered.

“He’s very cute. Looks a lot like you.” Peter was just about to roll his eyes. He’d heard enough women fawning over Neal and his looks that it was such an old thing to him, worthy of an eye roll so hard his eyeballs would pop into the back of his skull.

Peter imagines that before Nicky came along, Neal’s bedroom had an endless revolving door. It wasn’t like one had to really stretch their imagination to think about it. With the way people nearly tripped over themselves around him and his charm it was easy to think that was the case. Peter had seen him charm women and men alike and they ate it up. Neal could get just about everyone. Just about because some people didn’t go for what Neal was serving.

“Thank you.”

“Listen,” the woman started. “You look like the type of people we’d want being a part of the school.” She slipped a business card into Neal’s hand, smile never faltering. “My name is Rachel Sharon. Just call the number on that card and we’ll make an appointment to meet. I hope to you see you and your partner and your darling son there. Gotta run.”

“Was it just me….did she just…?”

“Mistake us for a gay couple? Yes,” Neal answered, looking over the business card. Peter stepped forward to look at it as well.

“That is a very high end school.”

“No kidding. I’d never be able to get Nicky into it unless I fenced something big like a pigeon blood ruby.” Peter gave him a look. “Which I have never considered doing.”

“Uh-huh.”

~

Not only were they not expecting what had happened in the park but they sure as hell weren’t expecting that by some weird coincidence that the school and woman would be involved in their newest case.

Hughes was briefing them on it when the name Rachel Sharon popped up. Neal glanced at Peter in that ‘we’re really in it now’ way.

“Somebody’s been funneling money out of the school and lining their own pockets with it. It’s not something that the public knows about, allowing more and more wealthy families to be taken advantage of.” Neal raised his hand. “Caffrey, put your hand down.” It stayed up and Hughes sighed. “What is it, Caffrey?”

“We have a slight issue. Peter and I met her this morning. She thinks we’re a couple and that Nicky is our son.” A few of the agents tried and failed to mask their snickering.

“Did she get your names?”

“No, she was in a bit of a hurry. She did give me her card though.”

“Do you still have it?”

“I do.”

“Good. This can work in our favor,” Hughes said.

“You’re okay with this?” Peter asked.

“Why not? Caffrey’s done crazier things since he’s been here.” Not at all untrue. There had been that whole healing Bible fiasco some time ago which had nearly gotten Neal killed.

“We’ll need aliases.”

“I have something in mind,” Neal said. Not in the least bit surprising.

~

“So…you and Caffrey,” Jones started, sliding up to Peter near the coffee machines.

“Oh don’t start.”

“So did the wedding already come and go or are there wedding bells in the future?” Diana joined in.

“The both of you are going to alternate turns getting me the most ridiculous drink orders I can come up with for the rest of the month.”

“Aw, come on boss, it is pretty good.”

“I’m just waiting to see how this is going to become complicated.” Because with Neal, nothing ever turned out simple even if it shouldn’t be complicated in the first place.

~

Everyone was standing around the conference room phone as Neal called up Rachel Sharon. She picked up on the second ring, voice chipper as she announced her name.

“Ms. Sharon, this is George Donohue. From the park this morning.”

“Oh, hello! How can I help you?”

“My husband, Walter, and I talked things over and we’d love to set up an appointment with you.”

“That’s wonderful news. I’m free this afternoon at one if you’re available to stop by.”

“We are.”

“Great! I’m looking forward to seeing you. Bring your son too, we can give you all a tour of the school.”

“Will do. See you then.”

“See you then, Mr. Donohue.” Neal hung up and sat back in his chair in triumph.

“We’re in.”

~

Somehow it shouldn’t be a surprise that Nicky has a little suit too. Apparently it was a gift from June and it matched one of Neal’s own. 

They made a stop at the house to change Nicky into the suit before heading off to their meeting with Rachel Sharon. Neal already looked the part of a wealthy man thanks to Byron Ellington’s suits and Nicky was certainly going to look like the child of a wealthy couple. Peter’s suits were hardly terrible but it was clear they weren’t expensive. Their story was just that he was more on the practical side while Neal had more refined tastes. Which was not untrue by any means.

“Nicky, if you hear somebody call Peter or I anything strange like George or Walter or refer to us as the Donohue’s, I’m going to need you to play along, okay? Think of it as a game. A long game of pretend.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Also we’re going to need you to pretend that Peter is your daddy too for a little bit. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can, Daddy. I’m good at pretending!”

“I know you are,” Neal said, planting a kiss on the boy’s cheek. “But just to be sure, what will you be calling Peter?”

“Papa!”

“Very good,” Neal turned to Peter. “Guess we’re good to go then.” At those words, Nicky darted for the door.

“Come on Daddy, come on Papa!”

“Coming!” Neal called as he walked after him. “Slow down or you’ll trip!”

“Papa, huh?” Peter mumbled to himself, smile tugging at his lips.

~

The school was a bit much for kids of such young ages. It was like a castle. At least the kids had a teacher leading them from classroom to classroom. Didn’t these private rich people schools ever operate like normal public ones? What ever happened to just having one teacher to teach a class all the subjects of the day instead of having the kids go from room to room? At least for the earlier grades anyway.

Nicky himself looked incredibly overwhelmed by everything that was happening around him, clinging tightly to Neal’s pant leg. Peter could sympathize. This was insane.

“No wonder the tuition for this school is through the roof,” Neal commented. “Do you think Rachel Sharon is stealing from her own school?”

“No. She pours everything into it. The school has been getting some backlash from the public lately for only admitting children with white, straight parents. She’s interested in keeping a positive appearance so lately she’s been trying to get more minorities in to put the school back in the public’s good graces.”

“So when she said we’re the kind of people she’d like to have as part of the school she really meant she wanted to use us?”

“Essentially.”

“Good to know.”

“Walter and George Donohue?” A meek man questioned from behind them. In an instant, Neal’s arm was around Peter’s waist, trying to play up the whole marriage thing. Peter managed to mask his sudden surprise. If he was being honest, they hadn’t been standing next to each other like they were in anyway romantically involved. Well they did have a part to play.

“Yes?” Peter inquired, subtly slipping his own arm around Neal.

“Miss Sharon will see you now. She’s just up the stairs.” Time to fully embrace the Donohue family.

~

“And of course we offer personalized lesson plans to special needs children. We don’t want to be exclusive or give anybody an unfair chance.” Peter and Neal nodded, actually paying attention to what she had to say in case it came up later and they needed to pull up the information they were being given at some point.

“That’s very honorable. Not many schools do that,” Peter pointed out.

“There are plenty of schools that preach that teaching children is the most important thing to them but few actually mean it,” Rachel Sharon lamented. “It’s a shame, it leaves some of the truly gifted out.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Neal said. “Nicholas, why don’t you and Papa go look around, I’d like to speak to Miss Sharon alone. Is that okay if they do?”

“Of course.” Peter gave Neal a questioning look for which Neal returned one that said ‘just trust me.’

“Come on, Papa,” Nicky said, tugging on Peter’s hand.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go explore.” Once they were out of sight, Neal turned towards Rachel and dropped his voice to nearly a whisper.

“You have a very lovely school here, Miss Sharon but I do have a concern and that involves the large amounts of money that’s been going missing from the school’s account recently.” Rachel looked at him in surprise.

“And how do you know about that?”

“I have some contacts. I don’t want to just continue to funnel money into the school and have it keep disappearing, I’m sure you understand.”

“I do, Mr. Donohue and if you’ll allow me, let me tell you that I have no intention of having any of the parents continuously give money to the school. I’m hoping this issue will be resolved soon before this all has to come out in the open and I’m so sorry you had to find out about this mishap of ours.” Neal nodded.

“I trust you Miss Sharon and I am still interested in supporting the school, if you’re still willing to accept our son.”

“No problem at all, Mr. Donohue. We can talk about it in my office.”

~

“Do you like this school, Nicky?” Peter asked while he and Nicky were off exploring the vast library.

“It’s too big and twisty,” Nicky frowned. Peter let out a breathy laugh.

“I agree. Who needs all of this, right?”

“Yeah. Do I have to come here?”

“No.” Nicky seemed to be relieved to hear that. “We’re just looking around is all.”

“To catch a bad guy?”

“That’s right. To catch a bad guy.”

“So I’m helping?” Nicky beamed.

“You are and you’re doing a great job.” The boy grinned widely.

~

They didn’t go and fetch Peter or Nicky to bring back to the office with them. Neal could do it alone and he did. Neal said he’d start getting the proper paperwork together once he’d left but it might take a couple days, just so they didn’t have to completely rush this.

His talk with Rachel Sharon did allow him to glance at the list of employee’s though when she had to step out of the office for just a minute to handle some important paperwork. A few of the names were worth looking into given their positions in the school. Neal wrote the names quickly before shoving the makeshift list into his pocket and returning to his seat. Neal asked a few more typical questions before they wrapped everything up and he left to go search for Peter and Nicky and to get out of there.

They were still in the library, chatting and laughing. Neal kept his distance for a while and watched.

“And Satchmo slid across the floor, knocking me over. It was like a regular Saturday morning cartoon.” Nicky placed one hand over his mouth firmly to stifle his laughter. He was told it was rude to make a lot of noise in a library and didn’t want to upset anyone.

“You’re funny.”

“You think so?” Peter asked, amused. Nicky nodded vigorously. He seemed to stop then to think something over before addressing the agent once again.

“I want to become an agent when I grow up. Can I?”

“Of course you can. If it’s what you really want,” Peter nodded.

“Then I can be like you and Daddy!” Well, he was half right.

“Yeah you can.” Neal decided to make his presence known then, stepping into Peter and Nicky’s line of sight.

“How’s it going?”

“Fine. Nicky and I were just talking about some future career plans.”

“I’m gonna be in the FBI,” Nicky proudly proclaimed.

“Is that so?”

“Yep!”

“Well, I just know you’ll be a great agent,” Neal said, ruffling his son’s hair. “Peter, I got a couple names that I think are worth looking into. And we should do it fast to see if we can get anything before we have to hand over some papers to the school because then we’ll have a problem.”

“Why’s that?”

“Nicky doesn’t have a birth certificate.”

“He doesn’t…?” Neal shrugged.

“Wasn’t born in a hospital and I never made one.” Forged is what he meant. He had never _forged_ one. He had meant to but never really got around to doing it so Nicky was left without that little document.

“We’ll figure it out before anything happens.”

~

They spent two days looking into everyone on the list and looking for any abnormalities in accounts or activity. Rachel Sharon had called Neal to ask about the paperwork for which he made up yet another excuse that things were backed up at the moment which brought them a little more time.

It was on the third day that they finally found something. An account that while well hidden, wasn’t hidden quite well enough. Ended up being Rachel Sharon’s assistant for which she normally passed responsibilities, such as handling the bank account, over to.

Neal couldn’t say he wasn’t at least a little bit disappointed that the case didn’t end up being a little more exciting.

“Exciting tends to end with a gun being shoved into your face,” Peter pointed out. Not like Neal could disagree with that. He’d never had people waving guns at him so much as when he began to work for the FBI. Who knew that working for something like White Collar Crimes involved so many guns.

“Yeah maybe not that exciting. At least something different came out of it. I got to pretend to be married to you for four days.”

“And how was it?”

“Not too bad. Should have exploited it into making you do some of the chores. But even so, it was fun while it lasted.”

“I’ll keep the chores thing in mind next time we have to act like we’re married, _dear_.”

“I should bring Nicky home,” Neal chuckled, glancing at his watch. It was getting late.

“I need to get going too. Gotta meet up with El and Satch.”

“Say hi to El for me.”

“I will. Oh, Neal, one more thing.” Neal raised an eyebrow as Peter dug through his desk and pulled out a manila envelope. “This is for you.”

Opening it, Neal reached inside and carefully slid out a single piece of paper. On the top was written **CERTIFICATION OF BIRTH** and below that, _This is to certify that a **BIRTH CERTIFICATION** has been filed for Nicholas Michael Caffrey_.

Neal looked up at Peter, surprise evident on his face.

“When you said that Nicky didn’t have one I figured I might legally obtain one for you.”

“Thank you, Peter. Really. This means a lot.”

“No problem. See you Monday, Neal.”

“See you Monday.”

~

In the end, Peter only stayed with the Caffrey boys for a little over a week when the wiring was at last finished and he and El and Satchmo were free to move back into their house. Why the wiring even took that long could be chalked up to the guy they hired to fix it in the first place. Some people really liked to milk the work to get more money out of clients. Peter and El would be more careful in who they hired for work like that from now on.

“Oh am I glad to see you in person and not just for lunch,” Peter said, embracing El tightly.

“Same here. Satchmo really missed you too,” El said, looking down at the dog who was sitting by their feet.

“And I have missed you,” Peter said, getting down on his knees and petting Satchmo. He’d missed his own family a great deal in the time that some faulty wiring had separated them.

“So how was Neal’s?”

“Good. It was…nice.”

“…Peter, what’s wrong?”

“Can we go inside first? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Sure.”

~

At June’s house that night, Nicky was getting ready for bed when he suddenly stopped and looked over at Neal, a grin coming to the boy’s face.

“I liked Mr. Peter as my other daddy.” Neal smiled sadly and nodded at his son, resting his hand on the boy’s head.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is part self-indulgent 'fake married' trope and part sort of introductory chapter into a later case that will be spanning a few chapters and important to the plot. This chapter ended up turning out to be so long too.


	5. Rejection

The birth certificate was tucked away safely in the guest room, somewhere it wouldn’t get ruined but where Neal had easy and quick access to it. He was endlessly grateful to Peter for getting it for him. He hadn’t been able to go to a hospital to have Nicky, instead relying on a doctor that Mozzie knew to help him at home who would keep everything quiet, so a birth certificate hadn’t happened. But now it existed all thanks to Peter. It seemed like such a small and insignificant thing but it meant so much to Neal.

As thanks, Neal managed to score tickets to a Yankee’s game. The tickets were obtained completely legally (for once). Good seats too, Neal could just see Peter’s face lighting up at them. Neal wouldn’t be able to go with him, the game fell on the same day that Neal had promised Nicky he’d take him to the movies but perhaps Peter could take Elizabeth or Jones with him. Either way, they’d be put to good use.

Neal tucked them into the inside of his suit jacket, ready to present to Peter at the end of the day. Seemed like the most appropriate time.

“Nicky, you ready?”

“Yeah!” The boy called out from the bathroom. The pitter patter of his feet grew louder as he ran into the main room. There was a bit of toothpaste on the side of his mouth that he clearly didn’t notice as he grinned up at his father.

Neal just chuckled as he grabbed a paper towel and cleaned Nicky’s mouth.

“ _Now_ you’re ready,” Neal said, standing up straight once again. “Come on future G-Man.”

~

It was a slow work day, the kind that Neal abhorred. Sometimes working White Collar could be so dull, at least to him who was so used to grand schemes worthy of a movie or at least a TV show. Between figuring out small time crimes, he played with Nicky, the two of them rolling up useless papers and trying to see who could score the most by chucking them into the trash. They’d trade off paper basketball with tic-tac-toe and paper connect 4.

It was so slow and boring that people were actually asking if anybody wanted them to make coffee runs and nobody ever wanted to do that.

Around lunchtime, Neal went up to Peter’s office while Nicky sat in Neal’s chair, looking about ready to fall asleep. He needed to get away from his desk for even just a minute even if it was to stand in front of somebody else’s.

He had planned on waiting until the end of the day but even the best laid plans sometimes fell through. Thank God this wasn’t a life or death situation.

“I got you these. Obtained legally, I promise,” Neal said, presenting the tickets to Peter.

“What’s the occasion?” Peter asked, gently taking the tickets and looking them over. Just as Neal thought, Peter smiled at them, the smile reaching his eyes with a lovely brilliance. Neal stopped his train of thought before it went off the rails.

“Thanks for getting me an official birth certificate for Nicky.” _And for everything else you’ve done for me_. Neal meant that. Of all the people in Neal’s life, Peter has been the only one to see any good in him outside of his own son. Only person who’d done something for him without wanting something for it. It wasn’t something Neal was used to but he did appreciate it. It felt good.

“I did that because I wanted to,” Peter said, frown on his face now. “I didn’t expect anything in return.”

“I know that and I’m giving you the tickets because I want to, not because I thought you were expecting something. Just take the tickets, Peter.” Peter looked unsure and Neal had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Why was this man so impossible at times?

“They _are_ good seats,” Peter mumbled at last. With a sigh, he looked back at Neal. “You’re sure about this?”

“Peter, if you don’t accept those tickets I’ll just give them to Jones because I know you’re the first person he’ll ask,” Neal replied. “Does that answer your question?”

“I’d say so. Thank you, Neal.”

“You’re welcome.” Peter looked out into the bullpen then to see Nicky curled up in Neal’s chair, asleep and using his father’s jacket as a blanket. Neal looked back and saw it too.

“I’ll go pick up lunch and bring it back so you don’t have to wake him,” Peter said.

“You’re a life saver.”

~

Three days later, Neal and Peter found themselves in very close quarters. So close that their knees were bumping together. They couldn’t really complain. It was either that or go outside and most likely get shot to death. Seriously, why were there so many guns involved? If Neal never saw another gun in his life it would be too soon.

“How long before back up arrives again?”

“Five minutes.”

“Think we’re safe enough in here?”

“We’re just going to hope that back up gets here soon.”

“That’s comforting.” Neal had to say, waiting to possibly be found in a small, confined space was hell. They were like sitting ducks. Neal was used to having somewhere to run and that not being an option at the moment didn’t sit well with him. He had always been more flight than fight.

Peter could have taken their gun-toting suspect down if he had his service weapon on him. Only thing is, he didn’t because he couldn’t because it was all part of a cover and now that cover would quite possibly end up screwing them over.

An awkward silence fell over them both as they waited for back up to arrive. Neal checked his watch after what felt like years to see that it was passed the five minute mark.

“It’s been seven minutes,” he said. What if they never got the signal to come in? Peter and Neal both thought it and the faces they gave each other spoke to that fact. They were very likely to die here.

In the next second, Peter surged forward and crushed his lips against Neal’s. If they were going to die, he wanted to get his feelings out in the open before they went forever unknown. Maybe suddenly up and kissing Neal wasn’t the best way to have the other man find out but it was a heat of the moment thing.

Neal was surprised when the kiss happened, to say the least. His eyes widened and his head went back with sudden force that he hit it a bit too hard on the wall behind him. This was the last thing he expected from Peter but it wasn’t exactly unwelcome. He’d thought about kissing Peter a number of times but so many things had stopped him, Peter’s marriage being one of them.

“What about Elizabeth!?” he said in the whispered equivalent of a yell when Peter broke contact. Neal couldn’t help the question slipping out. He could steal money from somebody without blinking but like hell was he going to be the reason a marriage as solid as Peter’s and Elizabeth’s goes up in smoke.

“Elizabeth and I talked about it…she’s fine with it. Even encouraged me to tell you my feelings,” Peter explained. Neal could only stare for several long moments.

“I’m glad to hear it, Peter, really I am…but we can’t,” Neal said. It looked like it broke his heart to say those words by the way his eyes just took on a look of complete and utter sadness. “Maybe if it was another time or in another life we could but not now. There’s just too much. It won’t work out. I’m your CI and if anything were to happen between us and it was found out, you’d be reassigned or worse…fired. And me, God knows, probably be hauled back to prison. I’m sorry, Peter.”

Before Peter could speak again, there was a knock on the door and Jones’s voice penetrated the air.

“Boss?” In the second it took for Peter to open the door, Neal’s signature smile was back in place.

“Hey, what took you guys so long?” Neal asked once he was out of the room. His voice betrayed nothing but Peter couldn’t help but notice the smile didn’t reach Neal’s eyes. “Thought Peter was going to go and wrestle with the suspect because you were taking your sweet time.” Jones snorted.

“Traffic jam on Fifth.”

“You know there’s a-”

“We know,” Jones interrupted. Neal’s smile just grew wider.

“You okay, Boss?” Diana asked, coming up to Peter with a look of concern on her face.

“Fine,” Peter lied. “Let’s wrap it up, people!”

While everyone scattered, leaving Neal and Peter alone, Neal walked up to the agent and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered before walking off to see what he could help with, leaving Peter standing there in the middle of the room. Alone.

~

Nicky was playing with his toys in silence while Neal was sitting on the couch staring off into space thinking about what had transpired a few hours before. He liked Peter, he really did but it wouldn’t work between them. He’d done the right thing.

“Oh I know that look.” The voice snapped Neal back to the present. Looking up and to his right, he saw Mozzie standing there, wine glass in hand. “You get that look when you’ve just screwed something up.”

“You know, it’d be nice if you’d replenish what you drain every so often.”

“I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“He said he said.”

“It’s not…never mind. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“It was not in my plans to stop by but Nicky stole your phone and texted me, saying ‘Daddy looks sad. Fix him.’ From what I deciphered anyway,” Mozzie explained.

“You know, I really hate how kids are beginning to pick up how to use electronics so soon.”

“Welcome to the age of technology, mon frère. Now, are you going to talk?”

“No.”

“Wine then?”

“Please.”

“Can I have some!?” Nicky asked excitedly, giving away that he had been eavesdropping the entire time.

“Not for another seventeen years,” Neal said.

“Awwww.”

~

Rejection sat heavily in Peter’s chest the rest of the day. It wasn’t that he’d never experienced rejection before but this time was different. Neal was different. But the thing was, as much as Peter didn’t want to believe what the con man said, he had to admit that Neal was right. They wouldn’t work out. Not now and he didn’t expect Neal to wait until a better time came along, there was the possibility that a time like that would never happen.

As much as it had hurt Peter he just had to accept it and he would, he just wanted to sulk a little bit and hope he hadn’t completely screwed things up with Neal.

Elizabeth was as supportive as ever. Said she was sorry things didn’t work out as she hugged him tightly and kissed the corner of his mouth (made Peter think about how Neal had done that with an apology too). Knowing Elizabeth, Peter told her not to beat herself up about it. She’d encouraged Peter to make his feelings known and it hadn’t worked in his favor. Earned him a broken heart and she felt responsible for that. Peter knew she did.

In an attempt to lighten the mood that him telling the story to Elizabeth set, Peter tried to stay away from the topics of work and Neal and even tried a few jokes which were so bad they couldn’t help but laugh.

He was happy like this. With his beautiful wife. Peter shouldn’t be so upset over Neal and yet that damn feeling in his chest just wouldn’t go away.

“I love you, hon,” Peter said that night in bed, holding Elizabeth close.

“I love you too.” And boy did Peter feel lucky about that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.  
> Next chapter will be the real kick start of some plot and introduce Neal's love interest.


	6. Morgan International

The days following the kissing incident were understandably awkward. Peter and Neal rarely made eye contact and didn’t talk more than they needed to. Everybody noticed but nobody said anything, instead pretending they didn’t see the strange and sudden rift and waiting for whatever was going on between both men to cease. It took nearly two weeks and Hughes telling them to get their shit together for things to start to become normal again between them.

It was in week three that Neal and Peter were back into the normal swing of things and a special case fell into Peter’s lap.

“Paul Morgan came to us directly with this,” Peter started while he and Neal were walking towards Peter’s office.

“Who’s Paul Morgan?” Peter stopped and looked at Neal in surprise.

“ _You_ don’t know who Paul Morgan is? I’m honestly surprised, Neal Caffrey actually doesn’t know something. Paul Morgan is the owner and CEO of Morgan International, a multi-billion dollar company. He’s a very powerful man.” After hearing that, Neal himself was surprised with how he’d never heard of the man and wondered why he’d never tried conning the man out of money in the past.

“How powerful are we talking?” Neal ventured.

“Let’s just say that when he says jump, the mayor asks ‘how high’.”

“Wow,” Neal said, clearly impressed. “That’s some power.”

“Exactly, meaning this is a high profile case…” Peter trailed off, waiting for Neal to finish.

“Meaning the pressure’s on.”

“Yes. Paul Morgan will be here in fifteen minutes.”

~

Paul Morgan was a forty year old man who’d worked very hard to get his company to where it was today. The hard work and stress from it all had made flecks of white appear in his dark hair. It added to his looks, making him look distinguished, rather than taking away.

Unlike most business men that Neal had encountered, Paul Morgan actually looked quite nice. Not a complete hard ass that would give you a bad attitude just for looking at them. Even his eyes had a kind look to them, warm and inviting.

Tall, dark, and handsome and still single. All the articles wondering about that single status practically materialized before Neal’s eyes. Tabloids did so love to spread rumors, whether real or fake, after all.

“At first the amount of money wasn’t big enough to be noticed but recently larger sums have been disappearing. Both my investors and I would like to know who’s stealing from my company.”

“How many people have access to the company’s accounts?” Peter asked.

“Nobody but myself,” Paul replied. “I thought that it would be for the best so nobody would steal money from the company but clearly somebody found a way.”

“No idea who might want to steal from you?”

“Not one. I’ve gone over a list of my employee’s several times but nobody pops out at me. I pay my employee’s well and I hardly have to let anyone go. So if this is to get back at me for something…”

“Could simply be a case of greed rather than revenge or feeling cheated,” Neal chimed in at last. “I could go undercover in the company and see what I can dig up.”

“That could look suspicious. Somebody coming in so suddenly when large sums of money are starting to go missing,” Peter mused.

“Not necessarily,” Paul said. “In two days a group of men will be coming into the office where they’ll be working for one week. Those who do exceptional work are hired by my company. It’s the company’s hiring process. Getting Mr. Caffrey in will be no problem.”

Peter nodded slowly. In two days it’d be time to see what they could do for Mr. Paul Morgan.

~

When the time came around, Neal Caffrey, masquerading as Nick Halden, was standing in a meeting room with seven other young men waiting for Paul Morgan.

Some of the young men looked overly eager and Neal could read them like a book. They wouldn’t be getting a job here. Honestly, he felt kinda bad for them.

He didn’t get to feel bad for long when Paul came into the room. Neal couldn’t help but think the CEO looked damn good in the suit he was wearing that morning and that it hugged him in all the right places.

Paul was the picture of professionalism, eyes not lingering too long on Neal or even giving any indication he recognized Neal from a hole in the wall as he addressed the men.

“Welcome to Morgan International. You will all be working here for one week for a trial basis. Your work will be watched carefully by certain members of the staff. At the end of the week some of you will be offered a position in the company while the others will, unfortunately, be turned away. You may leave at any time during the week if you feel Morgan International is not for you.”

With an easy smile, Paul walked over to the door and opened it, “Now follow me, please.”

They were shown around the building, certain areas restricted to them due to not having an official job at the company. Once the tour was over they were given their jobs for the week. It reminded Neal a bit of when he worked for Vincent Adler. Not somebody he should be thinking about at that moment. Not somebody he ever wanted to think about and yet the man continued to invade Neal’s thoughts from time to time.

Pushing the man to the back of his mind, Neal focused on his work. Both for the company and for the FBI.

By the end of the day, he had nothing. Nobody stuck out to him from who he’d spoken to. Everybody was pretty casual and pleased with their job and pay. Neal had a lot of employee’s to work through.

~

Nicky was clinging to his leg the next morning. The boy had been quite displeased that his father had left him behind to be watched by June. Nicky liked June, that wasn’t the problem. The displeasure had come from thinking Neal would disappear again. Even if Neal promised he wouldn’t, the boy was still fearful of it happening.

“Come on, bud. I have to go to work.”

“No,” Nicky said firmly, pout on his face. Neal sighed and reached down to pry the boy off his leg. Nicky was making it very difficult to walk.

Once he detached the boy from his limb, Neal lifted Nicky up. His son threw his tiny arms around Neal’s neck.

“Hey, I came back yesterday, didn’t I?” Nicky nodded. “And I’ll come back again today. It’s just that until this case is wrapped up, I can’t take you to the office so you have to stay here with June. I’ll call you around lunch time, okay?” Again Nicky nodded before tightening his grip on Neal’s neck and burying his face there as well. Neal only sighed softly and hugged his son.

~

It took about ten more minutes for Neal to pry Nicky off his neck after with June’s help. Even with being reassured Neal was going to come back late in the afternoon, Nicky wasn’t ready to be separated from his father. After what had happened not that long ago, Neal couldn’t exactly blame him for his fear that Neal was going to just disappear and leave him alone again.

A good majority of people would think a child would forget about something like that quickly, thinking children didn’t have the capacity at such a young age to retain information for long, but in reality kids were not as dumb or forgetful as most adults thought.

The sad look on Nicky’s face when Neal headed out the door was like a permanent fixture in Neal’s mind. God he felt so guilty. It made it hard to focus on the two jobs he was supposed to be doing simultaneously. He had to focus though, if he didn’t then this case would drag on longer and nobody wanted that.

Paul must have noticed Neal’s mood because at the beginning of the lunch hour, before Neal could phone June to talk to Nicky, he came over to the conman.

“What’s wrong? You look distracted.”

“Just my son. When I left the house today he gave me this look like I was never coming back.”

“You have a son?”

“Yeah. Nicholas. He’s four years old,” Neal answered.

“So you feel bad because of the look he gave you.”

“Amazing how kids can just look at you a certain way and hit you with crippling guilt. It’s understandable though. I disappeared for awhile without warning a few months back and he hasn’t recovered from it.”

“Prison, right?” Neal nodded. Of course Paul would know about Neal’s history. “Sorry, that’s probably a sensitive subject for you. I shouldn’t have…”

“No it’s fine. I didn’t stay in there very long before I managed to break out. Three months. Better than four years.”

“Impressive,” Paul said with an amused half smile. Neal chuckled.

“Try telling that to the Warden of the prison. He was just furious. Still is from what I’ve heard.”

“You made him look like a fool and you bruised his ego. Once he’s over it I’m sure he’ll agree breaking out of a Super Max in three months is quite the feat,” Paul said, taking a drink from his coffee cup. “How’d you do it anyway?”

“You know, it was actually really simple.”

~

Neal spent most of the rest of the lunch hour speaking to Paul, excusing himself at one point to go make his call to Nicky. The boy was ecstatic and chatted excitedly about what June and he had been up to the last few hours and how June was planning on taking him to the park. Neal thanked June for watching Nicky and promised to make it up to her in some way though she insisted he didn’t need to.

The rest of the day passed by normally. Still Neal didn’t get a feel for anybody pulling anything. Wrapping this up in a week didn’t seem entirely possible. He had an idea for how to lure the thief out but it wouldn’t work when he was masquerading around as a businessman who was with the company for a trial basis and with no absolute promise he’d be hired.

“Then at the end of the week I’ll hire you,” Paul said once business hours were over and everybody had gone home. Neal had relayed the information to Peter and Paul about him having an idea but not being able to execute it in the week. “If that’s alright with the both of you.”

“You’re sure about this, Neal?”

“I’m sure. Whoever’s doing this isn’t afraid of being caught so they’re not acting nervous or overly suspicious. I need to be a part of the company to lure them out. Complain about my pay, make it seem like I’m not getting enough money to survive and they should approach me. It’s nothing we haven’t done before.”

“Alright,” Peter agreed.

“Then you’re hired at the end of the week, Neal,” Paul said. “And thank you.” Neal gave him a smile while Peter wondered when it had become _Neal_ rather than _Mr. Caffrey_.

~

Nicky had started to get better as the week went on. The sad looks lessened as he began to trust that Neal would be returning every single day at around the same time and then Neal’s full attention would belong to him the rest of the night. But still there was that fear in the boy that Neal would suddenly just cease to come home. Neal didn’t know what he could do to chase that fear away entirely. 

His son was starting to really get into art and generally when Neal returned home, Nicky had drawn half a dozen pictures which were clearly drawn with care but were still so obviously crafted by a four year old.

Neal put every single one up on the fridge, rotating them everyday so each one had a turn.

It was Sunday–Neal would be getting hired temporarily by Morgan International the next morning–when Nicky came up to him with a small square of paper and held it out to Neal. 

Looking at it, it was another drawing. This one was of a single subject, a man in a suit with dark hair and blue eyes with a single line of black making up a large smile. The word  _‘Daddy’_ was written under the man.

“You can take that one to the office, Daddy,” Nicky said with such a sweet little smile. “So then you remember to come home. Just in case you forget again.” This was one of those moments of parenting where it was okay to cry, right?

With a shaky breath, Neal gently placed the picture down on the table and picked Nicky up, settling the boy on his lap before hugging him tightly.

“Thank you, Nicky. I’ll put it on my desk.”

“Okay. Good.” It was quiet for a long while until suddenly a loud growl interrupted the moment. “I’m hungry,” Nicky proclaimed. Neal couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright, I’ll start dinner,” Neal said, placing his son back down as he got out of his seat. Crossing over to the kitchenette, he looked back at the boy. “How’s pasta sound?”

“Yay!”

“Pasta it is then,” Neal chuckled.

The conman had to admit, his life was actually on the up and up lately even with the tracking anklet. It wasn’t a permanent fixture and he could live with it for the time it was on him. The thing was though, as horrible as it seemed, Neal was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for life to screw him as it so seemed to love doing anytime anything was actually going well for him.

Neal hoped he was wrong about the shoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now introducing Paul Morgan.


	7. Game On

When Monday rolled around, Neal and the other seven candidates were called into Paul Morgan’s office one at a time. It was easy to tell who had gotten jobs in the company or not. The ones who didn’t get a position didn’t even make eye contact when they left the office. Neal was the last to be called in.

“I don’t have to tell you anything, you already know you’re hired. Takes away the surprise.”

“I could always act surprised. I’ve been told I’m a very good actor,” Neal said. Paul chuckled.

“Neal, I can’t thank you enough for helping.” Neal shrugged.

“I’m doing my job.”

“Even so, I appreciate it.”

“You know, you might lose more money before this is over.”

“I’m aware. As long as my business doesn’t come crumbling down around me,” Paul said. “Not so much for myself but for my employees. I’d rather they not lose their jobs.”

“They won’t. We’ll find who’s taking your money before that can happen.”

“Thank you,” Paul repeated. Neal gave him one of his famous, signature grins.

~

Having a kid wasn’t part of Neal’s cover but it also wasn’t not a part of it so Nicky’s picture resting on Neal’s desk in Morgan International didn’t raise any eyebrows with those who somewhat knew him, or rather who he was masquerading as, by now. A few questions here and there about how old his child was or their name but that was it. He was honest about the age but not the name. Couldn’t be too careful.

Neal worked like he had during that trial week, diligently and quickly. It would still be awhile before he could lure out whoever was behind the money disappearing and even then he’d have to hope they took the bait. Glancing at the framed picture on his desk, Neal got an idea. People were more willing to jump in when a child was involved. Parents could and would do desperate and stupid things for their children. So why not a single father raising a four year old? That might help but he’d still have to wait before doing so. Just until Paul slipped him his first (and invalid) check. Then he’d work quickly so as not to waste FBI resources when he didn’t have to. He was, after all, trying to stay on the FBI’s good side for the sake of his son.

Just four more days.

~

At the lunch hour that same day, Neal sat at a picnic table across the street from the Morgan International building. He was sipping at a coffee just after calling Nicky and having his ear chatted off happily by the boy. If Neal could take pride in one thing, it was that despite the rather shitty circumstances they had been living in before, Nicky had always been a very happy child. He supposed that said something about his parenting skills.

It was around that time that Paul showed up. Neal actually hadn’t seen him all day outside of early that morning. Neal gestured for him to take a seat across from him once the man had acquired a coffee himself. Paul gave him a small, grateful smile as he took his seat.

“Tension headache?” Neal asked, nodding towards Paul who was currently massaging the area directly over an eyebrow.

“Mmm,” Paul hummed. “Had a meeting with a few of my investors. One of which stresses me out to no end. I swear his mission when we have those meetings is solely to give me a headache.”

“Sounds like a real handful.”

“Oh yes,” Paul sighed. He rubbed at the spot again as if he could massage the headache out. “And unfortunately I don’t have any Advil’s or the like in the office. I should really start to keep some though.” Neal seemed to think for a moment before getting up and going to Paul’s side of the table. Taking a seat, he brought his coffee over to him and lifted it up to press the hot mug gently to the place Paul was previously rubbing at. Paul raised an eyebrow at him in question.

“Heat can help with a tension headache. Ideally you’re meant to use hot compresses but coffee will have to do for now,” Neal explained. Paul smiled warmly at him.

~

Tuesday it was the same as usual. Neal worked and then the lunch hour came and he called Nicky and he and Paul shared a table and talked. Neal felt this was to be the norm until their thief was caught and he couldn’t say that he minded in the least.

“You can’t be serious,” Neal said trying not to choke on his coffee as Paul regaled him with a story from when he was in college.

“Very much so,” Paul chuckled. “Streaked right across campus only to get caught in the act by half the faculty.”

“How did they punish you?”

“Made me clean the boy’s bathroom for two weeks and I wasn’t allowed to join the Frat House. I was upset at the time but quickly realized it was perhaps for the best and at least they didn’t contact my parents. Not exactly a conversation I would have liked to have with them.”

“Can’t imagine that would have been pleasant but we all do stupid things when we’re that age. What you did was far more mild than what I did.”

“And what did you do?”

“I…” Neal trailed off and stared into his coffee cup. He didn’t exactly talk about his past a whole lot, preferring to keep it in the past. But Paul had opened up to him and he was comfortable around the other. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

“…I ran away from home. Didn’t take any money with me which was _really_ stupid. Ended up hitchhiking my way to New York.” That was also the time that Danny Brooks and Neal Bennett died and Neal Caffrey began to take shape in the mind of a disappointed and angry eighteen year old young man. “And the stupid things continued from there.”

Neal nearly sighed in relief when he didn’t read pity into Paul’s expression. Too many people tended to show pity for people who had a story like Neal’s and it wasn’t something he wanted. Neal was actually overjoyed that he had trusted Paul and could trust him not to judge or place unwanted pity upon him. It was like a weight had been lifted then.

“You’re right, you did do something more stupid than me.” Neal grinned immediately.

“I can outdo people in most departments.”

“Truly a man of many talents.” Neal winked at the other man as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips to take a drink.

~

As the day was wrapping up, Neal was heading back to his desk to shut off the computer when he bumped into one of the senior employee’s who worked on a higher floor. He was a small, nervous man whom Neal had seen on a few occasions. He was harmless.

When he bumped into this man, however, papers that he was carrying were scattered everywhere. Before he scrambled quickly to pick them all up, Neal saw that the account numbers and totals for the Morgan International accounts were printed on them.

Neal said nothing on it, simply letting the man scurry away. Had he really just found their guilty party like that?

~

“You’re sure that’s what you saw?” Peter asked back at the FBI Headquarters.

“Positive. He had the information right there.”

“I’m not sure a judge will issue us a warrant to search. They’d bring up a few points, like how it’s possible that you could have mistaken what you saw among other things.”

“Then we’ll continue with the plan. I just have to persuade him into revealing himself.”

Paul frowned and when Neal noticed, he rested his hand gently on Paul’s upper arm and smiled at him. Paul gave him a smaller one in return.

“Sorry, it’s just still hard to think somebody would betray me like this.”

“I know but don’t blame yourself. The chance it has something to do with you is slim.”

“These people are motivated by greed,” Peter chimed in. “It’s a terrible vice and they end up slipping up eventually.”

“Ex-con here,” Neal deadpanned. “I wasn’t motivated by greed.”

“Vanity. Pride.”

“You’re hilarious, Peter.”

“I try.”

“Try harder.”

“The both of you bicker like an old married couple,” Paul laughed. Both of the other men scoffed.

“Yeah right. Anyway, I should be getting home, I’ve been away from Nicky long enough. Don’t worry too much about this, Paul. Have a nice night.” Neal was halfway out of the door when Peter spoke up.

“Neal!” He was holding the tracking ankle in his hand. Neal looked over and with a sigh and roll of his eyes, stepped back into the office and took it from Peter. Placing the damn thing back on his ankle, he looked at the agent.

“Happy now?”

“Yes, goodnight Neal.”

“Goodnight, Peter.”

~

Nearly the second he stepped into June’s home, his legs were barreled into, nearly knocking him to the ground. A pair of arms wrapped around them and Nicky looked up at him with a big grin.

“Hi, Daddy!”

“Hey, buddy,” Neal greeted, scooping the four year old up into his arms. “What did you get up to today?”

“I went out with June.”

“Did you thank her after?” Nicky nodded vigorously. “Good boy.”

“Daddy? Can Mr. Peter and Auntie El come over soon?”

“You miss them, huh?” The boy nodded again. “Of course they can come over soon. Once this is all wrapped up, okay? Shouldn’t be more than a couple days.”

“Okay,” Nicky said quietly.

“Hey, don’t frown. You’ll see them again before you know it.” With Neal having to go to Morgan International everyday, Nicky hadn’t been able to see Peter or El for a little over a week now because they were all working on tight, busy schedules. At least things would calm down after all this. Hopefully.

“Oh, Neal, you’re back,” June said as she entered the foyer. “I was hoping so. Someone dropped this letter off for you.”

“Thank you, June.” He took it from her and, still balancing Nicky on his hip, opened it. He froze when he saw what was on the paper. There were no words, just a single picture of a chess piece, the white queen.

Neal froze up, all the color draining from his face. There didn’t need to be any words for him to know who sent it.

“Neal, dear, are you alright?” He looked at June and forced a smile.

“I’m fine. Thank you. I think Nicky and I will go up now.”

Once upstairs, he tore the picture and envelope into a dozen pieces and shoved them into the trash. He just realized then that his heart was pounding and his vision was swimming like he was having some sort of dizzy spell.

Turning away from the trashcan, he bent over, hands on his knees and took deep, measured breaths.

“Daddy?” Nicky sounded scared and Neal silently cursed himself. He looked up at his son and for the second time that night, forced a smile to come to his face.

“I’m okay, Nicky. Hey, let’s watch some TV before dinner, alright?” Nicky seemed unsure for a moment, plucking at the bottom of his shirt with his fingers before slowly nodding.

He couldn’t worry about what he received. Nothing would come out of it. It couldn’t, he thought as he sat beside Nicky, the boy leaning against his side, gently running his fingers through his son’s hair.

Everything was going to be fine. It had to be.

~

When payday finally came, Neal seemed his usual self though most of it was acting. He walked into Paul’s office with a casual smile and Paul handed Neal his check personally with a big grin on his face.

“You already called to cancel the check, right?”

“No,” Paul said simply, still smiling. “The check is still active. It’s yours to take to the bank.”

“Paul…”

“Please, Neal. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t pay you for the extra work you’re doing for my company.”

“Thank you, but…I don’t know if the FBI would approve. I have to be careful around them.”

“Of course. I could talk to them if you’d like though.”

“Maybe next time.”

“I’ll call the bank then.”

“Thank you,” Neal nodded. “Now I have to go complain all about this.”

“Have fun.”

~

It was done. Neal hadn’t spent hours in a hallway complaining, instead he casually stood beside a few people here and there and dropped some not so subtle hints about the pay and how it wasn’t enough and he needed extra money to survive, especially with being a single father.

Gossip spread like wildfire in places like this. It felt strange for once to do this, felt like he was dragging Paul’s good name through the mud and that didn’t sit well with him. He liked Paul and God he hoped this wouldn’t put him in a bad spot with his employees. Paul could explain after, right? Or was that off limits? Would it screw him over?

Neal had about a dozen similar questions running through his head when somebody placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he came face to face with not the quiet, awkward man from before but somebody he actually knew the name of. Matthew Faraday.

“Can I help you?”

“I heard from a few people that your pay is less than satisfactory.”

“…You heard correctly.”

“Can I see your check?” This was a test. Faraday needed to know that Neal- _Nicholas_ -wasn’t bullshitting. Neal pretended to think it over for a moment before fishing his check out and handing it over.

Faraday snatched it out of his hand, his eyes scanned over the paper. He clicked his tongue before handing it back.

“You’re right, you won’t make it with that pay. How far are you willing to go to get some extra money?”

“I’m not going to prostitute myself if that’s what you’re getting at.” Faraday chuckled. Neal didn’t like the sound of it, it sounded strangely villainous actually. He wondered if Faraday practiced it every morning.

“No, not prostitution. We’ll be getting the money from Mr. Morgan himself. If you’re interested that is, if what I’m implying isn’t too much for you.”

“The man isn’t paying me enough to really care about taking from him. When do we do this?”

“I’ll notify you the day before we do anything.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

_Game on_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been awhile. Didn't mean for it to take this long with this chapter but I had such a hard time with it for some reason. I hope it's okay though. Next chapter won't take so long I promise.  
> Neal is going to feel like such an idiot for tearing that paper up later but hey. A few more chapters and some things you guys have asked about in the comments will be shown and answered! :D  
> Also really hope you guys are liking Paul. I get nervous about my writing a lot, especially with characters.


	8. A Question

Things were quiet on Matthew Faraday’s side for the next two days. Actually, things had been quiet in general and that let Neal breath a little easier when it came to that letter. Maybe he really would be left alone. Besides, what possible thing could Adler want from him? Nothing. Nothing Neal could think of, anyway.

He was beginning to give himself a headache just thinking about it when Faraday made his way over to Neal’s desk.

“Tomorrow, six p.m., Bank of New York. Don’t be late.”

That was it, those simple details and Faraday went away again. Some people liked to be so dramatic. There was no reason for it besides wanting to feel like some Hollywood thief or spy. Neal wanted to roll his eyes at it, being so cryptic could lead to getting caught or killed. There was a reason a heist could take weeks or even months to pull off.

Neal was thankful that wouldn’t have to happen though. He couldn’t imagine having to put up with Faraday for so long. He was ready to get back to work when the man came back around.

“Ah yes, nearly forgot,” Faraday said in a ton that told Neal he really hadn’t. “Morgan should have changed his password to the account already. I trust that you can retrieve it.”

“Yeah, I can get it.”

“Good,” Faraday beamed. “Try to get it to me before lunch, will you?”

It was a half hour till lunch, plenty of time to get the password off of Paul. He wasn’t going to steal it. No, he was going to waltz right into Paul’s office and ask him for the password. Paul could always change it again after tomorrow.

Neal waited another five minutes before getting up from his desk and making his way toward Paul’s office. He slowly opened the door and poked his head inside when he heard Paul speaking on the other side of the door. He raised an eyebrow at Paul, the man noticed him and waved him inside the office. Neal stepped inside and gently closed the door before taking a seat.

“I’ve told you once and I will tell you again, I am not interested in a merger with you,” Paul bit out. Clearly whoever was on the other end of the line got on his nerves. “Why? Because you’re a leech, Jack. You latch onto other companies and suck them dry while you make out like a bandit. Don’t try to use excuses, Jack, I still remember what happened when Benjamin agreed to that merger with you. Multi-billion dollar company like his tanked in just a few months, leaving him broke. Now he’s working as a sales clerk at _Prada_ in the Garment District!”

Neal sat back and just watched, rather enjoying watching Paul tell somebody off. Paul was such a kind and gentle man that seeing him angry was really something.

“Get it through your head, Jack. I. Am. Not. Signing. A. Merger. Agreement,” Paul said slowly. “Yeah, right back at you, Jack. Have a nice day.” Hanging up the phone, Paul returned it to its cradle. “Sorry about that. Did you need something, Neal?”

“I could use your current password for the bank.”

“He talked to you?” Neal nodded. “Do you mind me asking when it’s going to happen?”

“Tomorrow at six. The money won’t actually be taken though, Peter and the others will be stepping in before that happens.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“I will be, thank you.” With a nod, Paul opened the middle drawer of his desk and took out a sticky note.

“Here you go,” he said, handing it over.

“Thank you, Paul. Everything will be over by tomorrow and hopefully you’ll never have to worry about something like this again. I should get this to Faraday, he’s expecting it before lunch.”

~

“We’ll be stationed in a van across the street. You’ll have ten minutes before we go in there,” Peter explained. Neal was only half listening. He’d been through this talk about a dozen times by now through various other cases and was used to it. He didn’t need to hear it now and he’d much rather be on his way home to Nicky. “And once we’ve gotten you out and Faraday into custody, we’ll torch the place and run away to France where we’ll rob the _Louvre_.

“Uh-huh.”

“Neal!” Neal looked up at Peter.

“What?”

“You’re not listening.”

“Oh please, Peter, I don’t have to. I know how it’s going to go down already. Have no idea why you feel the need to keep briefing me on it.”

“Because that’s how we do things, Neal. Now will you listen?”

“Yeah, okay, continue on.”

“Alright, like I was saying-”

“Hey wait. Did you say we’d run away to France and rob the _Louvre_?”

“No.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Would you focus?”

“I’m all ears.” Half-truth because he’d only be _half-listening_ but at least it wasn’t a full out lie. So far he’d never outright lied to Peter and despite the things he’d done in life, all the lies he’s told with such an ease, he doesn’t think he could ever truly lie to Peter. Wasn’t that a new feeling.

~

“Settle down,” Neal laughed but Nicky wasn’t about to, he was absolutely ecstatic. Neal had informed the boy that things would be going back to normal after tomorrow, Nicky would be able to go back to work with Neal and see Elizabeth and Peter and everyone again.

Nicky was jumping up and down on the bed and clapping excitedly. Neal could have chastised the boy for doing so but he let Nicky continue on so the boy could expel some of his energy so he wouldn’t be as awake by bedtime.

“You’re very excited, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! Can I talk to Auntie El!?”

“Sure, but you have to sit down first.” Nicky immediately stopped jumping and collapsed onto the bed, gently getting off of it and taking a seat at the table, squirming in his chair in excitement while Neal fished his phone out of his suit jacket.

Neal had very few contacts in his cellphone and Elizabeth was one of the first on the list. Double clicking, he passed the phone over to Nicky. The boy held it up to his ear with both hands and waited.

“Hi, Auntie El!” he exclaimed the second Elizabeth uttered a friendly ‘hello.’

“Hi, Nicky,” Elizabeth replied with a laugh. “How are you, honey?”

“I’m good. Daddy and Mr. Peter are finishing the case tomorrow!”

“I heard. I’ve missed you, you know.”

“I miss you too, Auntie El.” Neal smiled slightly as he listened to their conversation. As much as he gave thought to taking Nicky out of the country when his sentence was up, he didn’t think he could bear to drag Nicky away from all of this. Neal wasn’t sure if he could walk away himself.

Even with being on a leash, they had a good life here. It would be so selfish of him to ruin it all when it came off.

~

Faraday arrived at the bank at precisely six o’clock. No sooner, no later, he arrived exactly on the dot and looked pleased to see that Neal was already there.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” Neal didn’t even get to answer before Faraday was already making his way into the bank. Okay so no talking, that was fine for Neal. They only had ten minutes anyway and couldn’t waste time talking. Peter and the team had to catch them in the act of stealing from Morgan International or else this whole thing was for nothing.

It was easy getting into the vault, just took having the password and Faraday and Neal were in.

“Normally I take anywhere from ten to twenty thousand dollars but with two of us, I’d like to up the amount.” 

_You’re getting greedy_ , Neal thought. It was smarter to take a set amount that would hardly be noticed over a period of time or take everything in one fell swoop. This was foolish but Neal wasn’t about to say anything. His job was to catch this man, not help him and besides, he liked Paul too much to help the man that was stealing from him.

“How much?”

“Let’s say a hundred grand. Fifty for each of us.” Neal nodded and they got started.

There was something of a ruckus upstairs before calls of ‘FBI’ were heard. They could have saved it for when they had cornered Faraday in the vault, not that there was anywhere for the man to go.

Faraday looked at Neal.

“Oh right, I forgot to tell you.” Neal lifted his pant leg to show off the tracking anklet.

“You son of a bitch,” Faraday snarled, taking a swing at the other man. Neal stepped back quick enough to not be struck by his fist. He was ready to really go after Neal but Peter and the others were there before he could try again. Thank God because Neal was not a fighter.

“Matthew Faraday, put your hands on your head and step away.” Faraday did as he was told, all the while glaring harshly at Neal.

Peter stayed behind with Neal as Faraday was cuffed and taken out of the bank.

“You know, I’ve never been insulted so much in my life until I started helping the FBI.”

“Would you like a hug?” Peter joked.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”

“You okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, Faraday didn’t do anything to me. I managed to get out of the way before he could land a hit on me.”

“Good…you did a good job, Neal,” Peter complimented, bringing Neal into a hug anyway. Neal nearly melted into the hold, Peter’s hugs were always comforting and felt safe. But he didn’t melt, instead he just returned the hug gently and it didn’t last nearly long enough before Peter pulled away and smiled at him. “We should get going. Reports to do.”

“Right.”

~

Paul showed up in the afternoon of the next day during the lunch hour.

“Mr. Morgan,” Diana greeted. “Somebody hasn’t already begun stealing from you again, have they?”

“No,” Paul replied with a light smile. “Actually, I’m looking for Neal.”

“Neal? He went to go get a few things for Peter. He should be coming back around soon.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” Diana said as she returned to her desk. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.

Diana wasn’t lying when she said Neal would be showing back up soon, a minute later and Neal rounded the corner, focus entirely on some papers he had in hand. Neal didn’t even notice Paul, walking right past the man though he didn’t get far before Paul had laid a hand on his upper arm.

Looking back, Neal’s expression went from pure concentration to surprise.

“Paul.”

“Neal.”

“How can I help you?” Paul shifted from one foot to the other. He was forty years old, doing this shouldn’t be so hard.

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me this weekend. Say…Saturday?” Neal took a moment to let the words really process in his mind, not entirely sure if he’d heard them correctly but once he realized that yes, he had indeed heard those words, he broke out into a grin.

“I’d like that,” he replied.

“Glad to hear it. I can pick you up at seven?”

“Okay. I look forward to it. I’ll see you then.”

“See you then. Neal,” Paul cleared his throat before giving Neal a short wave and walking off. Neal couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What did Paul need?” Peter asked once Neal walked into his office and handed him over the documents he needed.

“Nothing, he just wanted to ask me out on a date.”

“A date?”

“Yes. He’s taking me out this Saturday.”

“Oh,” Peter said dumbly. He didn’t know what else to say and was spared from having to think of anything by Diana walking in.

“Did Paul ask you out?”

“How did you know?” Neal asked with a raised brow.

“Intuition,” Diana said. “Only you could be a felon and still get a date with a multi-billionaire.”

“What can I say? It’s my charm.”

“Charm, yeah right,” she scoffed. “I’d have an easier time believing you sold your soul to the Devil.”

“Now that’s just hurtful.”

“Sure it is. Have fun with your billionaire.”

“I will,” Neal said, checking his watch. “And I should be going. I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter. Diana.”

“Yep.”

“See you, Neal,” Peter said distractedly. Neal frowned. Hopefully this wouldn’t be a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Peter actually is happy for Neal.  
> Also can't believe this fic is almost at 20,000 words. My God. I actually didn't expect this. Thank you guys for all your support. <3


	9. The Date

Paul shifted in his seat, waiting for Peter to come back into the office. Just that afternoon Peter asked to see him after work because they needed to talk. Now he was being made to wait for the agent and Paul knew it was an interrogation tactic. Make the suspect sweat. It was only when Paul was adjusting his tie for the third time that Peter stepped into the office and took a seat behind his desk. He had a hard look on his face.

“Peter,” he said in way of greeting.

“Paul. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. What did you want to speak to me about?”

“It’s about Neal.” Paul nodded slowly. He suspected as much. “You’re going out to dinner together on Saturday.”

“We are,” Paul confirmed. He’d walked right into an interrogation.

“You do know what Neal has done, don’t you?”

“I’m very aware but I’m not going to judge him on what he did in the past,” Paul explained. Peter tilted his head, a look on his face that Paul couldn’t decipher. Was Peter always so hard to read, he wondered. “Peter, if you’re trying to protect me…”

“I’m not trying to protect you. I’m trying to protect my friend who is the single father to a four year old child. A four year old that he will eventually want to introduce you to if things work out,” Peter started. “Neal is a romantic who falls in love hard. I’m trying to make sure he’s not going to be jerked around and have his heart broken because I think he deserves better than that.”

“And you’re absolutely right.” Paul had his mouth open to say more but shut it when Peter went on.

“So I’m making sure you absolutely know what he’s done in the past and the fact that he is a single father and if you do anything to hurt either or both of them, there will be hell to pay.” 

“Peter, I’m not interested in jerking Neal around. I genuinely care about him and simply want to take him out to a nice dinner. If things should move on from there, I’m going to do my best not to break his heart or hurt him and Nicky.”

For the first time since Peter walked into the office that night, he smiled. That’s exactly what he wanted to hear.

“Good.” Paul let out a breath that he didn’t know he’d been holding. The air wasn’t so heavy and suffocating now that Peter wasn’t in ‘interrogation’ mode.

“I do have a favor to ask of you though.”

“What is it?”

“When I asked Neal out, I was a bit nervous, I’m afraid I neglected to ask about his radius so I could pick a restaurant within his bounds.”

“I’ll print out a visual map of it for you.”

~

Neal looked like he was about ready to strangle somebody when he came into the office the next morning. He didn’t stop by his desk first when he came in like he normally did, instead he made a beeline right towards Peter’s office. Diana and Jones shared a look as he zipped by them. Oh there was going to be a fight, it was so clear to everybody.

Storming into Peter’s office, Neal threw the door open hard enough to hit the wall, effectively getting Peter’s attention.

“You talked to Paul yesterday didn’t you?” He bit out.

“He told you?”

“Paul didn’t tell me anything, he didn’t have to,” Neal said, stepping into the office and closing the door. “You know, the other day when I told you that Paul had asked me on a date, the way you were acting after, I thought maybe it was because you were jealous or you didn’t approve but then I started thinking. I started saying to myself ‘no, it can’t be jealousy. It has to be something else.’ And then it hit me, ‘Peter’s going to interrogate Paul.’ And you did!”

“Neal-”

“Paul could have called off the whole thing not that I’d blame him. Nobody wants to be interrogated by an FBI Agent before they go out with somebody. Dammit, Peter!”

“Neal, I am just trying to protect you!”

“Protect me!?” Neal yelled. “I’m a grown man, I don’t need you to protect me!”

“Oh that’s rich, how many times have you nearly gotten yourself killed now!? And you’d be dead if I hadn’t been there to protect you!”

“I got along just fine before you, Peter!”

“Well excuse me for trying to look out for you!”

“I’m thirty-two years old, you’re not my father, and I think I can make decisions by myself! My personal life is still mine! Not yours, not the FBI’s! Mine! Don’t make me cut you out of it! I let you be a part of it because I trust you and how can I if you go behind my back like that!?”

“Fine, then next time you go on a date with somebody and they turn out to be the person you don’t expect them to be, don’t come crying to me about it!”

“I won’t!”

“Good!”

“Great then we’re on the same page! Can you and Elizabeth watch Nicky this weekend!?”

“Yeah!”

“Thank you!” With that, Neal stormed out of the office. The other agents weren’t sure how to react to the screaming match the two men had just had and Clinton gave Diana a dumbfounded look, eyebrow raised.

“They have some of the strangest fights I’ve ever seen two people have.”

~

“What’s the occasion?” Mozzie asked from his place on the couch, wine glass in hand. He was single-handedly going to drain Neal’s entire wine supply if he kept on like this.

He’d just come along from a backdoor poker game where he’d lost more than he’d won and was feeling a bit miffed about it. If Neal had been with him or even the one playing, they would have won so much money but Neal was so adamant about not pulling anything illegal that Mozzie couldn’t convince him to even join him for one game.

“Date with Paul Morgan.”

“Paul Morgan? Billionaire built his company from the ground up Paul Morgan?”

“Seriously, how is it everyone knew about him besides me?”

“You know, I thought of pulling a long con on him once.”

“Please don’t try anything now.” Mozzie held his hands up in surrender.

“Well I can’t _now_. You’re going on a date with him.”

“Good to know the line gets drawn at romantic interests,” Neal said as he finished fixing up his tie. Nicky came bounding out of the backroom seconds later, big grin on his face.

“I’m ready!”

“Nicky’s going with you?”

“No,” Neal replied, smoothing down the boy’s hair. Anytime Nicky tried to fix his own hair it always ended up sticking up in the strangest ways which baffled Neal. “Peter and Elizabeth are looking after him tonight.”

“And you didn’t think to ask me? I’m wounded.”

“In my defense, Mozzie, I asked Peter before I knew you’d be available this weekend. You can watch him next time. Now we have to go because Paul will be at Peter and Elizabeth’s house soon and I have to beat him there.”

“Have fun with your billionaire.”

“Thanks,” Neal said as he and Nicky were heading out the door. Before closing it, he turned to look back at Mozzie. “And uh, keep the alcohol consumption to just two bottles tonight, okay, Winosaurus?” Nicky giggled beside Neal. “You think that’s funny now just wait till you’re older and you really understand it.”

“I make no promises,” Mozzie chimed in. Neal only shook his head.

“See you, Mozzie.”

~

Elizabeth answered the door seconds after Neal knocked, giving Nicky and Neal a bright smile.

“Hi there,” she greeted.

“Hi Elizabeth.”

“Hi Auntie El.”

“Can I get a hug?” El said as she knelt down to be eye level with Nicky. The boy didn’t hesitate, rushing into her arms to give her a hug which she returned with a great gusto. Peter came to the front door seconds later, greeting Nicky as he approached. El quickly glanced at the two men, she sensed something was going on between them and stood up as she held out a hand to Nicky.

“You want to help me finish making dessert? You can lick the spoon after.” Nicky nodded vigorously before taking El’s hand and letting her lead him into the kitchen. Neal and Peter watched as they went until they disappeared from both of their sights.

“Peter,” Neal started. “I want to apologize for blowing up at you like I did the other day.” Peter put up a hand to stop Neal.

“For once you’re not the one who should be apologizing,” Peter said, the first part said in a joking manner. “I just want to keep you safe but I guess I let that part of me get out of hand.”

“No, it’s fine. Kind of flattering when you think about it. Thank you,” Neal said. “But never do it again.”

“I swear on my badge I will never interrogate another date of yours again.”

“…I don’t believe you for a second,” Neal said, one side of his mouth curling upwards.

A car pulled up to the Burke’s home not long after that, Paul got out of the car and made his way to the front door.

“Evening, Peter.”

“Hey, Paul.”

“Ready to go, Neal?”

“Yes. We really should go now. Can’t stay out too late.”

“Of course,” Paul said. “See you later, Peter.”

“Have fun, kids.”

“ _Peter_ ,” Neal sighed.

Elizabeth came back around to the door in time to see Paul and Neal drive off. She leaned against Peter as they watched the car travel further and further down the road.

“So…you interrogate him?”

“The day after Paul asked Neal out.”

“Good. Now come on, dinner’s ready.”

~

The restaurant was beautiful, high ceilings and ambient light that went well with the white of the restaurant that was accentuated by gold. The tables were spaced out a decent amount, enough that you felt like nobody from the next table might overhear you unless you yelled and the waiters were dressed in handsome black and white uniforms that were neatly pressed. A fountain stood at the entrance, a mermaid making up the spout and hundreds of pennies glimmered in the water.

Neal knew enough about fine cuisine and restaurants to know that at no point in his life would he ever have been financially sound enough to eat in a place like this even by himself. Being a popular restaurant didn’t help the prices any.

“How did you get a table here? It’s a six month wait.” Paul simply looked at Neal and smiled. “Pulled a few strings?”

“I did.”

“I just keep liking you more and more.” Paul laughed.

~

“You excited about starting school next year?” El asked in the middle of dinner.

“Yeah,” Nicky answered with a small smile that wavered slightly. “I wish Daddy could go with me.”

“Knowing your father, he’ll wait outside for you all day,” Peter said. Elizabeth smiled at that, she was going to say the same thing.

It didn’t surprise either Burke that Nicky would be nervous to go to school. He was very close to Neal and had never been far from him. It would be a big change for the boy. Big and scary but just like Neal, they were sure he’d adapt to a new environment and routine like how the wind changes directions.

“Did Daddy like school?” Nicky asked, looking at Peter.

“Um…”

“He did,” Elizabeth cut in. Peter turned to her with a questioning look. El simply shrugged and took a drink of her wine. “Neal and I talk on the phone often.”

“Is that why you don’t come to bed until eleven o’clock sometimes?”

“Yeah.”

“…Incredible.”

“I think I know more about Neal than you do now,” El said with a jokingly smug smile.

“Oh really? We’ll have to see about that later.”

“You’re on,” she said as she began to collect the dirty dishes. “What would you like to do now Nicky?” The boy shrugged and looked between Peter and El as if seeking guidance.

“Have you ever played baseball?” Peter asked.

“No.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“You’ll be a professional by the end of the night with Peter.”

~

There was a silence between them. Not exactly awkward but it was getting there.

“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’m out of practice when it comes to dating. I haven’t dated since I was thirty-four,” Paul frowned. He wanted this night to go well and to get to know Neal more and already he was screwing up. He had never been the smooth talking type and sometimes he failed to know what to talk about over a romantic dinner.

“You haven’t dated since you were thirty-four?” Neal said, looking up from the menu in shock. Paul seemed to hesitate for a moment until Neal rested his hands on his. “I’m kidding. You’re doing fine, Paul, don’t worry about it.”

“You can’t fool me, Neal Caffrey. I’m doing miserably.”

“Mmm, okay, a little bit but I’m not doing much better either am I?”

“You look very handsome tonight. You do everyday…I’m sure I mean you always dress so nicely but you look especially handsome tonight. I’m just going to shut up.” Neal chuckled and shook his head.

“That’s a start. You look especially handsome tonight yourself.”

“Where do we go from here now?”

“Have any exes I should be wary of?”

“No. You?”

“No. I’ve never actually been in any serious relationship before. Not for lack of trying.”

“I’ve had two but in the end decided neither was the right one for me,” Paul said.

“And you’re still looking?”

“I am.”

“Have you only dated men or…?”

“Only men. I’ve always kept it quiet though. Not because I was ashamed, more I thought it was nobody else’s business but my own and my partners.”

“That’s admirable.”

“Just men, or women too?”

“Men and women but like I said, nothing ever really serious.”

“Not even with Nicky’s other father?” Neal seemed to tense up at that and Paul regretted it immediately. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s fine. I don’t like to talk about it but no, that wasn’t serious either. It was more of a fling. Ever have any of those?”

“A couple times.”

“I can see you being something of a playboy in your younger days.”

“Hardly,” Paul laughed.

“Never embraced your Bruce Wayne side?”

“…There was this one time.”

“ _Yes_. I have to hear this.”

“Alright, if you really want to. So I was twenty-six…”

~

Peter threw the ball to Nicky who missed the swing by just a second. The boy looked sadly down at the ground, one foot kicking out gently.

“I can’t get it.”

“It takes practice. The pros were where you are now but you know, I think you might get even better than them in no time,” Peter said. Nicky just shrugged his shoulders, an exaggerated gesture in only the way children do. “How about we throw the ball around for Satch instead?”

“Can I throw first?”

“Of course you can.” Peter handed the ball over and Nicky held it out to the dog to get his attention. Satchmo lifted himself up from his position at El’s feet to wander over to the boy who did his best to throw the ball to the other side of the yard. Peter let Nicky handle the ball throwing while he went to go take a seat with his wife.

“You have that look on your face again, El.”

“What look?”

“You know what look.”

“Can you blame me?”

“No. Having Nicky around makes me wish we had our own kids too.”

“He’s sweet.”

“He is. People will look at what Neal has done in the past and think he’s a bad father but he’s…he’s done a good job.”

“He has.”

“If we ever have kids, you’ll be a great mom, El.”

“And you’ll be a great dad,” she said, placing her hand gently on top of her husband’s, their fingers entwining.

~

“That’s how I managed to get the painting out of the museum without anybody noticing.”

“And the goat?”

“Yeah,” Neal said slowly. “I have no idea what the goat was about and I never asked. I think it’s better that I didn’t.”

“I believe I’ll be wondering about the goat for the rest of the week now.”

“Welcome to the club. It’s kept me wondering since.”

Their meal took a little longer to consume than one would think due to all the talking they were doing with one another. It had started off so slow, neither sure what to say but since they slowly began to converse, they found more and more to talk about and spent most of the evening doing just that.

“What is it?” Neal asked, noticing that Paul was staring at him, an unmistakable look of fondness on the other man’s face.

“Nothing. Your eyes are a bit distracting is all. Very blue. They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Neal said with a chuckle.

“I’m sure people tell you that all the time.”

“I get the occasional nickname because of them. ‘Blue eyes’, ‘snake eyes’. The typical ones.”

“No ‘ocean eyes’?”

“That would be a new one actually. Already deciding on a nickname for me?”

“Considering it.”

“I like it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, what’s not to like? It’s different, flattering…true.”

“Glad to hear you approve.” They shared a smile before continuing on with their meal.

~

Nicky was asleep on the couch, curled up under the blanket that Elizabeth had thrown over the boy earlier. Her and Peter were chatting lightly when the front door opened and Neal came in.

“How was your date?” Elizabeth whispered, quickly but quietly heading to the front door. “Be quiet, Nicky is sleeping.”

“It was great,” Neal whispered back. “He asked me out again next week. Don’t worry, I’ll have Mozzie watch Nicky.”

“Nonsense, if you want to drop Nicky off here next week you’re more than welcome to. Right, Peter?”

“What El said, Neal.”

“Thank you, guys. It means a lot.”

“You’re welcome. You look happy.”

“I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to all of you the next chapter will be better. This came so much later than planned because so much craziness happened so quickly I just got so busy. But I'll be updating all my fics very soon. Sorry for the wait you guys.


	10. The Music Box

"You're killing me. You kiss your wife with that mouth. You kissed _me_ with that mouth."

"It's deviled ham, Neal. It's not a life or death situation."

"It's a little more on the death side with that smell."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"I'd say throw it in the street but I'm afraid what might happen to the rat population of New York if you did so all I can ask, or rather beg, is for you not to eat that when we're in a small enclosed space."

“Yeah alright.”

“Thank you.” 

Neal’s cellphone beeped then. Peter watched as the ex-con fished the phone out of his suit jacket to see why it went off. A smile spread across Neal’s face and he began typing.

“Paul?”

“Yeah, he just got out of a meeting.”

“The two of you have really hit it off.” Neal paused in his typing to look over at Peter.

“We have.”

“You’ve been going out for a couple of weeks now. Has he met Nicky yet?”

“Not yet, I want to wait a while longer.”

“So that means he hasn’t been over to June’s yet. Have you been to his place?”

“That’s not possible.”

“Why?”

“His house is half a mile outside of my radius,” Neal informed with a bitter smile.

“ _Oh_.”

“Mmm-hmm. So until Candy comes off, I don’t see myself visiting his house anytime soon.”

“Candy? You named your tracking anklet...Candy?”

“Makes it seem more exciting.” Peter couldn’t help but give Neal a questioning look at that. “There was this one woman in Vegas during a weekend some years back who may have been named Candy.”

“Uh-huh. How crazy was this weekend exactly?” Peter asked.

“I barely have any recollection of it. All I know is Mozzie assured me I didn’t do anything embarrassing or stupid and we left with about ten thousand dollars more than we went there with.”

“I really hope the ten thousand was obtained legally.”

“I can’t say because I don’t remember.”

“Not that you’d tell me anyway.”

“No,” Neal said after a moment, flashing Peter his trademark grin.

“One of these days you’re going to admit everything to me.”

“I will,” Neal confirmed. “Once the statute of limitations is up.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“I’m sure you are.”

~

After being stuck in a van for hours doing surveillance, it was nice to get back to the more spacious office of the White Collar Crimes Division. Nicky was waiting for them when they got there, having just been dropped off by June before she went out. For an older woman, she had a surprisingly active social life.

Neal went down on his knees, holding his arms out to Nicky when he spotted the boy almost the second they got through the glass doors leading into the bullpen. Nicky rushed into his father’s arms, laughing in delight. Neal held him tightly as he stood back up, Nicky holding on as tightly as he could in turn.

Nicky pulled away from Neal slightly to be able to see his father’s face better and started chatting about what he and June had done that day. Neal listened intently like it was the most important discussion in the world.

Even after all these months, Peter still couldn’t believe how much Nicky looked like Neal. Same blue eyes and dark curls. Peter couldn’t really pick out any features of Nicky’s that would give Peter an indication what his other father may look like. Perhaps when Neal told him who Nicky’s other father was Peter would be able to more easily see the little parts that weren’t Neal when it came to the boy’s looks. But until then, it was all Neal.

“Burke, Caffrey,” Hughes’ voice cut right through everything. He gave them the double finger point he was famous for and neither man could do anything other than oblige him.

“Jones, can you watch Nicky for a few minutes?”

“No problem,” Jones said. “Besides, I’ve missed showing him magic tricks.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right back, Nicky.”

“Okay. Have fun.” Neal chuckled lightly before walking towards the conference room. Nicky had taken to saying ‘have fun’ whenever Neal was leaving him for work related purposes. 

The little habit was born from a comment Mozzie had made the other day about Neal seeming to be having fun working with the FBI. Now Nicky seemed to feel obligated to tell Neal to have fun every time. Like saying it would absolutely guarantee it. Neal appreciated the gesture.

“What’s up?” Neal asked as he entered the conference room.

“Do you know what this is?” Hughes asked as he clicked the remote to bring up a picture of an ornate, golden, music box. It took a moment for Neal to realize Hughes was talking exclusively to him and not to both he and Peter.

“It’s a music box that was stolen by the Nazis from Catherine the Great’s amber room in Saint Petersburg during World War II. It’s rumored that there’s something even more valuable inside of it.”

“The Italian’s have it now and will be showing off the music box tomorrow before returning it to the Russian government,” Hughes said. Both men knew in that moment that they’d be spending their Saturday _working_. “Peter, they’ve requested you and your team, and that includes you Caffrey, to look after the music box. Someone is apparently very keen on taking it.”

“I’ll tell the others.” Hughes gave a curt nod before exiting the room. Neal turned his attention to Peter.

“Diana is going to be pissed.”

“Date night for her and Christie is tomorrow?”

“It _was_.”

“You’re right, she is going to be pissed.”

“Have fun telling her, I’m going home. See you, Peter.”

“Bye, Neal.”

~

There were some things, that Nicky observed, that Neal didn’t do anymore. He didn’t leave as frequently, for one. It had always been for work, Nicky knew that, but Neal was still going to work and the boy didn’t really understand how now was different from then. He had no problem with that though.

What bugged Nicky was that he never saw his father draw or paint anymore. He missed that, his father always made really nice pictures. They had never stuck around the apartment for long but Nicky admired them while they were there.

Due to his own growing interest in art, Neal had gotten several sketchbooks and pads for Nicky to draw in. One of them was clutched in the boy’s hand at that moment. He had been drawing but his attention turned to his father who was sitting just in front of Nicky, both sitting Indian style on the floor. Neal was reading a book, killing time before he had to make dinner. He would have played some sort of game with Nicky but the boy was content enough to just draw.

One of the sketchpads was suddenly placed in front of his book, making him turn his eyes up towards the boy. Nicky offered him a little smile.

“You want me to draw?” Nicky nodded and let the sketchpad slip from his fingers as he sat back and watched Neal intently. “Okay.”

Neal placed his book off to the side and took the sketchpad in one hand, grabbing a piece of charcoal with the other. Charcoal was one of the messiest things to use when creating art but he thought he might as well give his son a choice rather than forcing him to stick to crayon and colored pencils. Nicky knew very well not to eat any of the art supplies so Neal wasn’t worried.

He stared at the sketchpad in his hand for a few moments before starting to draw. Long, broad strokes of black were interlaced with short and quick ones. It had been a long time since he made anything that wasn’t a forgery of a famous work of art. He was surprised he even remembered how to create something original.

It didn’t take very long for Neal to finish and when he was done, he turned the pad around to show the picture to Nicky.

“It’s me,” Nicky said, pointing and grinning.

“That’s right. What do you want to do with it?”

“Can we put it in a frame?”

“Of course we can.” Neal grabbed a ruler then to help him separate the paper from the pad more easily. He tried to hand the sketchpad back over to Nicky but the boy shook his head. “Why not?”

“Can you draw Mr. Peter now?”

“I can do that.”

It didn’t stop there. After Peter, Neal ended up drawing Elizabeth and Mozzie and Jones and Diana and June and even Hughes. He also drew several of the agents from the White Collar Crimes Division, including some that Neal didn’t know the names of and had to recall what they looked like by Nicky describing them to him.

Neal realized what he was sketching was all the people that had come into Neal and Nicky’s life that meant something to them, especially to his son. Like a family. One great big family and Neal couldn’t believe he had given thought to taking Nicky away from all this before. Neal had to ask.

“Nicky?”

“Yeah, Daddy?”

“If you could live anywhere in the world, and I mean anywhere, where would it be?”

“Here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’re here and so is Mr. Peter and Auntie El and Mrs. June,” Nicky said, rattling off more names before he was done. Neal simply nodded and turned back to drawing, finishing the collection with one last picture.

Nicky got up and walked around his father, peeking over his shoulder at the drawing and when Neal was done, he pointed at it.

“Who’s that?”

“Somebody I’d like you to meet soon.”

“He looks nice.”

“He is.”

“What’s his name?”

“Paul.”

~

Nicky wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear Neal say he was leaving for work. Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be his free days where it was him and Nicky for the whole day both days. Neal promised to take him to the park tomorrow and they could stay as long as Nicky wanted. The boy liked that plan and let him leave without much protest.

Now here Neal was with Peter and Jones and Diana guarding the amber music box, ready to bring in whoever was interested in stealing it. Everything seemed to be oddly calm though, nobody was suspiciously eyeing up the glass box that housed it for display.

“Guess the thief decided not to show up.”

“Maybe,” Peter said. He didn’t like this though, something didn’t feel right and usually his gut was right on the mark.

“You think they’re here?”

“I do.”

One of the consulate employees approached them, trying to keep his expression neutral but was failing. He was obviously very upset about something.

“Follow me,” he said. Peter and Neal exchanged glances before doing what the man said and following him into an office where a large safe was against a wall, opened. Jones and Diana were also there. “You and your team did not do what we asked!”

“What are you talking about? The music box is safe, you didn’t tell us to guard your money too,” Diana said.

“There wasn’t money in there, it was the music box!”

“The one in the display isn’t the real one?” Peter ground out. Why the hell hadn’t they been informed on this?

“Of course not!”

“It would have been nice to know that in the first place!”

“I sent someone to tell you.”

“Did they start working here recently?”

“Yes.”

“That would be our thief then,” Peter said. He was beyond annoyed now. The thief could be long gone, already hiding in a hole by this point.

“How do you plan on getting the box back?” The employee demanded.

“Calm down, we’ll find it.”

“How can you be sure?”

“He’s not going to keep it on him for long,” Neal interjected. “The item is too hot, he’s going to want to fence it as soon as he can and collect. Find the fence, get him to talk, and it can lead us to the thief.”

The overworked employee gave Neal a hard look for a moment.

“Just...find the box. The Russians are already going to be angry that it’s been stolen. We don’t need them on our asses if it disappears for good.” He escorted them out of the room then and walked away.

“Think he’ll have a fence set up for the box tomorrow?”

“No. Actually, he won’t be finding a fence for awhile.”

“You just said-”

“I told him that to calm him down,” Neal said with a shrug. “Our thief could be interested in what’s inside the box. The rumors. He might go to someone to find out if it’s true.”

“So we keep our eyes and ears peeled for somebody dropping off an amber music box in some off the wall privately owned store?”

“Exactly. But we should also keep an eye on the Black Market too. Just in case.”

“I’ll get on it,” Peter said, checking his watch. “We have to find that music box, Neal.”

“I know. We will.”

~

The music box was heavy, weighing the bag down. It didn’t really bother him, felt weightless when he thought about the price of it. If the rumors were true and the box contained something even more valuable in it, he could imagine that the reward would be out of this world. The box itself was worth more money than he could imagine already.

He stopped by an easy to miss little shop to drop it off with a man he trusted. This man wouldn’t make off with the box, only ask for ten percent of the earnings. What was ten percent really to what the thief could get for it all?

“Call me when you get something.”

That’s all he said before leaving, the man knowing what he was being asked. It was just a shame he _didn’t_ know he was signing his life away by agreeing to do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly so excited for the next few chapters you guys. Things you've been asking about and wanting to see will be answered and shown! Super ecstatic to get them out!


	11. Dinner Dates

The White Collar Crimes Division had been buzzing with more activity than usual. The Russians were angry that the box had been taken and so the Italians had been pushing a little harder on the FBI about it. Not like that would make them find the box any faster but they sure as hell thought it would.

Neal was confident the box hadn’t left Manhattan yet and they had to trust Neal’s intuition on this. It was their best bet to finding the damn thing, after all.

They’d been asking around pawn shops, seeing if anybody had seen or heard anything, had taken Neal’s advice and found more private places. Alas, nobody had seen or heard a thing about an amber music box. Either they were telling the truth, or lying to cover up for one of their own but it was impossible to tell and subjecting them all to polygraphs was not just an outrageous idea but would take far too long and those could always be cheated.

Tensions were running just a bit high in the offices as everyone worked to track the box down. Tomorrow would mark an exact week from when the item was stolen and the fact that they hadn’t found even a hint of where it might be was frustrating to say the least.

“Whoever has it is going to work quickly to try and figure out what’s inside of it and hand it back over to our thief,” Neal said as he and Peter walked back to the car after yet another failed questioning at a pawn shop in the East Village. “It’s too much of a risk to keep it on them. This is something people will actually kill for, Peter.”

“Then whoever has it had better hope we find them first.”

Peter was clearly stressed and Neal’s cool attitude and confidence that they’d find the box before it went missing for good was doing nothing to help placate the other man.

“First thing Monday we are picking up where we left off today. Starting tomorrow, I’ll begin to gather a list of shops we should check out.”

“…Peter?”

“What is it, Neal?”

“Don’t you and Elizabeth have dinner reservations for tomorrow night?” Peter closed his eyes as he let out a sigh. A sigh that said that he forgot about them.

“We do,” Peter said with a nod.

“Peter, it’s fine, take Saturday to relax. You need it. Just have a nice dinner with your wife. If you need me to, I’ll ask Mozzie to walk Satchmo for you guys.”

“You really want me to relax, don’t you?”

“You have no idea, you’ve been driving all of us crazy at the office,” Neal half-joked, giving Peter a cheeky little smirk. Peter rolled his eyes but Neal could see the other’s lips curling up ever so slightly.

“Okay, I can relax. Saturday is my relaxation day.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“I just need you to back up for one second.” Neal raised an eyebrow in question. “Mozzie walking Satchmo? Does that mean you’re busy Saturday night?”

Neal knew exactly what Peter was trying to get out of him and the fact Peter was trying to hide his smile now proved it.

“You’re like a PTA mom sometimes, you know that?”

“So I’m interested in my friend’s life, sue me,” Peter said, ignoring Neal’s comment.

“Paul is coming over Saturday for dinner.”

“Where’s Nicky going to go?”

“Nicky’s going to be there.”

“I thought you weren’t sure about Paul and Nicky meeting yet?”

“I wasn’t but I did some thinking and I decided that they should.”

“Things are getting pretty serious between you two then?”

“I guess they are,” Neal said with a sort of finality. Wanting Paul to meet Nicky, how was that not serious? That was Neal’s son, he’d be introducing his son to a man he was seeing and Nicky would get attached the more he saw Paul. Yeah, Neal couldn’t deny it, things _are_  getting very serious between them.

~

Despite what Peter had told Neal in the car, Saturday did not turn out to be his relaxation day. The air conditioning broke and Peter being Peter, he decided to fix it himself which took probably longer than it should have and then the lawn needed to be mowed and in the end, he didn’t get much relaxing time before he and El had to start getting ready for their dinner.

At least he hadn’t worked in the sense of looking places up though work was still in the back of his mind. What could possibly be in that music box that’s so valuable that somebody would kill for it? Did anybody who was after the damn thing even know?

“What’s on your mind?” Elizabeth asked as she was putting in her earrings. Peter had that look on his face again, that sort of pinched expression which meant he was deep in thought.

“It’s nothing.”

“Hon.”

“It’s work related and I promised myself I wouldn’t talk about work tonight,” Peter said in way of explanation before leaning over to give El a kiss on the cheek.

“You know I don’t mind.”

“I do. I swear I will talk your ear off about it tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Elizabeth smiled. “I’m finished so I’ll go wait downstairs for Mozzie.”

“Knowing him he’ll be here on the dot.”

“That gives me about fifteen seconds then.”

It did indeed. She barely made it down the stairs when there was a knock on the door.

“Evening, Mozzie.”

“Evening, Mrs. Suit. You look very elegant tonight.”

“Thank you. Peter will be down in a moment and then we’ll be going. Lock up after you get back with Satch, please.”

“I will double check every door.”

Peter came down the stairs then, buttoning up his jacket.

“And remember to keep your hands off of…everything, except the dog.”

“Oh please, Suit, you don’t have anything in this house that’s of any value to me. Besides that, you probably have things rigged to explode or microscopic trackers attached to them.”

Peter wasn’t sure how to react to that and could only give Mozzie a look like he wasn’t sure if the man was being serious or not. El on the other hand chuckled before starting to nudge Peter towards the door.

“Thanks again, Mozzie.”

“Have a nice dinner,” Mozzie responded.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful about somebody being a conspiracy nut before,” Peter mumbled before they fully made it out the door.

~

The restaurant wasn’t anything extravagant like was expected but it was new. Apparently it had just opened about two weeks back and El was curious to try it out. Just looking at the food as they passed by other tables to be seated, Peter wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to be a fan of the menu here.

“Sorry hon, I thought there might be more that would fit your taste,” Elizabeth apologized after scanning the pages of the menu.

“It’s fine. I guess it’s an opportunity to…broaden my horizons.” Elizabeth gave him an encouraging smile from across the table and he returned it.

“Okay. I’m going to go freshen up a bit, if the waiter comes back can you tell him I’d like the catfish?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks hon.” She wasn’t gone five seconds before Peter noticed they hadn’t even ordered their drinks yet. He had no idea what wine went well with fish. Peter took his phone out then and sent off a quick text. He could always wait for Elizabeth to return but he decided to get some help.

~

A little song was being hummed as Nicky kept going back and forth in the loft, cleaning or straightening things up. Neal watched the boy, amused. The room was clean already but Nicky wanted it to be perfect for Paul. That apparently meant doing the same actions about a dozen times because Nicky just couldn’t quite get satisfied in the way things looked.

“Hey, buddy?”

“Yeah, Daddy?”

“How’s it going?”

“Good. Almost done.”

“Okay,” Neal said and didn’t even try to fight back the smile that formed. He turned back to the stove to finish sauteing the vegetables. The table was all set, only thing he had to worry about was cooking now and not for much longer. Last thing he had to wait for was the chicken.

His cellphone beeped rather loudly from the bedside table and before he could move, Nicky was bounding towards it and picking it up.

“Daddy, it’s Mr. Peter.”

“Let me see.” Nicky walked over and handed the phone to his father. Neal laughed and shook his head at the simple text message.

_Peter_  
Sent: 6:30 PM  
What wine goes good with catfish?

_Order a Sauvignon Blanc_ , he sent in return. Neal set his phone down once again and continued with his cooking while Nicky finished up making things just right for Paul’s arrival.

~

Shortly before seven o’clock, there was a knock at the door and Nicky jumped up excitedly, making a beeline for it.

He was stopped by Neal who scooped him up just before he got to the door.

“Dadddyyyyy,” Nicky whined.

“You’ll see him in two seconds,” Neal reassured him as he placed the boy down in front of the table. “Stay.” He wanted to make the introductions properly. He looked back at Nicky once more before opening the door, smiling broadly at Paul.

“Come on in,” Neal stood back and allowed Paul to enter the room. Paul and Nicky locked eyes almost immediately and while Paul smiled at him, the boy just stared. “Paul, this is my son Nicholas. Nicky, this is Paul.”

“Hi there, Nicholas,” Paul said as he got down on his knees in front of Nicky to be eye level with him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” Nicky replied. “So why do you like my Daddy?” Paul chuckled at both the question and for the breathy ‘oh my God’ he heard from Neal.

“Why do I like your dad? Hmm, well…he’s funny, nice, creative, and very smart. He makes me happy. There’s many other reasons I like your dad but I don’t want to be boring.”

“Okay. What’s your favorite food?”

“Well, I do have a weakness for pasta.”

“He’s good,” Nicky said after a moment, finally grinning. “I like him.”

“Well thank you very much, Nicholas.”

“You can call me Nicky.”

“Nicky it is then.”

“I’m hungry,” the boy said.

“Sit down then and we’ll eat,” Neal finally spoke. While Nicky did just that, Neal walked over to Paul and they shared a look.

“I left out the handsome part,” Paul whispered. “Not a lot of kids like hearing somebody fawn over their parents looks.”

“Probably for the best,” Neal agreed.

~

Dinner didn’t go as planned for the Burke’s. They returned home around seven fifteen. They hadn’t eaten. Their food had been, well, the best word would be disgusting. Far too under cooked they had noted and El was pretty sure there had been a nail in her rice. There was definitely a hair and Peter didn’t even want to think about his own food.

So here they were, back home after not eating and having spent all that time getting ready.

“That could have gone better,” El sighed as she kicked off her heels.

“I’ll order takeout?”

“Please.”

They took a shower before the food arrived, feeling so much better after it. In all honesty, Peter enjoyed staying home with Elizabeth and having takeout or pizza and just being comfortable. He liked those nights the most and as much as El liked getting out, he knew that she did too.

“Looks like it’s going to be one of those takeout and a movie nights,” Elizabeth said as she made herself comfortable on the couch once the food had arrived, wine glass in hand.

“Looks that way. Now we just have to decide on a movie.”

“I’m in the mood for seeing Matt Damon kicking some ass.”

“ _Bourne Identity_ it is.”

He settled down next to El as the movie started and they cuddled close, food in hand, just enjoying each other’s company.

~

Neal took a drink from his wine glass as he watched Nicky and Paul interact. Throughout the meal, it had just been him and Paul talking with Nicky silently watching and now it was Neal’s turn.

“So you have a big building you’re in charge of?”

“That’s right.”

“Woah,” Nicky said in amazement. “Daddy works in a big building too!”

“Yeah, your dad and I met in that building.”

“What?” Nicky looked at Neal, confused.

“Daddy helped Paul out with a problem he was having at work.”

“Ooooh.” It was remarkable how easily children accepted simple explanations. 

Nicky turned back to the other man and grinned. “Paul, I might get a bunny soon!”

“Oh yeah? What color?”

“I want a brown one. They’re my favorite.”

“I can’t blame you, brown rabbits are very cute.”

“Do you have a bunny?”

“No, but I like them. Instead of a rabbit, I always had dogs or cats.”

“We can’t get a dog,” Nicky frowned. “The apartment is too small.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. When you and your dad move to a bigger place, I’ll help him get you a dog. That sound good?” Nicky grinned so wide that Neal thought that it had to be an uncomfortable strain on the boy’s facial muscles.

“Yeah!” Nicky chirped. He wriggled excitedly in his chair which got a laugh out of Paul and Neal.

“Alright, who’s ready for dessert?” Neal asked as he got up.

“Meeeee,” Nicky answered immediately.

“Dessert sounds good. Thank you.”

~

At about nine, Nicky started yawning frequently. It was past his usual bedtime, only reason he was allowed to stay up was due to company but even then Neal was ready to put a limit to it.

“Time for bed, I think,” he said. Nicky just made a whining noise and that told Neal that yes, it was definitely bedtime for the boy. “Come on, you.” Nicky simply whined again as Neal picked him up. “Hope you don’t mind sitting around for a minutes, Paul.”

“Not at all, go take care of him.”

Neal was gone for ten minutes tops before reappearing with Nicky who was fleshly bathed, changed into his pajamas, and was very much asleep against Neal’s shoulder. Neal gently tucked him into bed, placing a kiss on the boy’s forehead before making his way over to Paul who was standing by the door.

“Thanks for coming,” he said.

“Thank you for inviting me. I had fun. It was nice to meet Nicky, he’s very sweet.”

“He is,” Neal nodded.

“I should get going so you can head to bed too. I’ll see you later, Neal.”

“Looking forward to it.” Neal held the door open for Paul. Before Paul left however, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Neal’s. Interestingly, they never had kissed in the entire time they’d been dating. This was the first.

Neal closed his eyes as he reciprocated the kiss, his hands automatically coming up to rest on either side of Paul’s head and Paul’s own arms wrapped around Neal’s waist. The kissing deepened as they pressed their bodies closer together, neither one ready or willing to pull away from the other. They both tasted of Chardonnay and rosemary and it made for a pleasing mix to take in on another’s tongue.

They only broke away when they needed to breathe and then pressed their foreheads together as they panted. They were still holding onto each other tightly and glazed over brown eyes met with equally glazed blue eyes and everything seemed so slow then. They were breathing one another’s air, sharing one another’s space and it was such a private moment. Neal wanted to stay in it for as long as possible.

And just before they fully caught their breath, Paul spoke.

“I love you, Neal.”

~

In a pawn shop in East Harlem, the owner had finally figured out the secret to the music box. After a week of doing almost nothing but attempting to figure it out, he had it and he had a call to make with some damn good news.

The music box, however, would not be leaving the shop without some bloodshed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna be moving along now~  
> Really soon you guys are gonna get the answers to some things you've been wondering/wanting to see.  
> And oh damn, did Neal say he loved Paul back? You'll have to see in the next chapter!


	12. Lost and Found

Peter called his cell far too early on Monday. It was barely seven when it went off and Neal wanted to ignore it but after the fifth ring it drove him crazy enough to pick it up.

He reached over Nicky to retrieve the phone and once it was in hand, settled down carefully once again. One of Nicky’s little fists ended up smacking him in the mouth as the boy moved in his sleep. Removing the hand, Neal hit the green button on his phone.

“Yeah, Peter?”

“Did I wake you up?”

“I was just getting up actually.”

“Right,” Peter said in that way that meant he knew Neal was bullshitting. “We need you in East Harlem.”

“Now?”

“No, I was thinking next week.”

“Ha…ha. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As he ended the call, Neal looked over at Nicky. The boy’s mouth hung open slightly and he was sleeping so soundly. This was going to suck.

~

Peter was waiting for him by the curb outside the pawn shop. A pawn shop crawling with police and FBI. Far too many of them, Neal thought. This couldn’t be good.

“Morning,” Peter greeted.

“Good morning.”

“You didn’t have a hard time waking Nicky up did you?”

“It was more putting him back to bed that was the hard part,” Neal said.

“Nicky’s a good kid, I’m sure he wasn’t that difficult.”

“Have you _ever_ woken up a sleeping four year old at the crack of dawn?”

“So…not easy then.”

“No. They wake up fussy and because of that they’re not very _keen_ on going back to sleep.”

“Well unless we have to find the Ark of the Covenant next I don’t think I’ll be getting you up so early again.” Neal shook his head.

“I’m sure you didn’t call me down here for friendly banter.”

“No, I didn’t. Follow me.” Peter led him inside and once they were around the counter, Neal stopped. Peter did too once he noticed and turned towards him.

“ _That’s_ a dead body,” Neal said, gesturing with his hat to the prone figure on the floor by Peter’s feet. An agent farther in got up from their crouched position and moved away, allowing Neal to see another dead man. “That’s two…two dead bodies. _Yeaaah_ , this isn’t really my thing.”

“You’re not here to help with the bodies. When our friends in homicide checked the cameras after getting the call that shots had been fired, the tape that was loaded in showed our thief back there bringing in the music box. Everything else has been wiped.”

“And now you need me to find it because I’m good at getting things I’m not supposed to have.”

“Now we’re on the same page.” With a nod, Neal walked around the body, placing his hat in Peter’s hands as he went and began to search the shop.

There wasn’t much that had been left untouched by whomever had killed them. The place was a mess, papers scattered about and objects tipped over or broken. It was always like that in these situations.

The few places that were left to check yielded nothing and that was when Neal began to check the walls. Tapping on them and listening carefully for any sign that a panel could be removed. An inexperienced thief wouldn’t think to look for a false panel or even a loose board in the floor. Lucky for them, Neal wasn’t inexperienced in thievery.

He was alone in the backroom when he finally found something. The tell tale sound of a false panel in the wood. Removing it, Neal saw the music box sitting there. The color of it was so vibrant that when the light hit it, it seemed to glow.

With a grin, he carefully took it from its hiding place and made his way out of the backroom to present the box to Peter.

Diana saw him emerge from the room first and called Peter over.

“Nice work, Neal,” Peter praised, carefully looking over the item to make sure it wasn’t damaged. They didn’t need the Russians angry with them anymore than they already were.

~

Hughes contacted the Russian Embassy as soon as the music box was safely in the FBI Headquarters. The Russians were going to have to wait to pick it up. With the deaths of the pawn shop owner and their thief, they had to keep the box as evidence until they could determine whether it was the reason for the murders or not.

While the bodies were being examined, work went back to normal for the time being. That’s when Peter noticed Neal. He would tap his pen against a stack of papers in front of him on his desk and seemed to stare off into space. Unusual for him especially when he wasn’t working on mortgage fraud. One time he had got up to get coffee, looked at it for a second before dumping it down the sink and returning to his desk to begin the pen tapping again.

It was then that Peter remembered that Neal, Paul, and Nicky had had dinner together at June’s. Paul was good for Neal, Peter could see that and he could tell how happy Neal was with the man but this kind of behavior made his thoughts go places. He hoped they hadn’t broken up.

Neal could be so open about his emotions and other times he was so damn guarded about them. The man himself was like some kind of abstract puzzle that Peter kept having to figure out.

Peter picked up the phone on his desk and began dialing Paul’s office but before the call went through, he returned the phone to its cradle.

_Don’t jump to conclusions, Peter_. Besides, how would it look if he were to call Paul and chew him out for something that may not have happened? Even if it did that’d be stepping over a line. Peter wasn’t Neal’s domestic partner or his father but still, he just had to know what was going on. He may not be either of those things but he’s still Neal’s friend. He had a plan.

“Neal,” Peter said upon approaching his desk. “Neal!”

“Hmm? Yeah?” Neal asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

“Come on, we’re taking an early lunch.” With a nod, Neal stood from the chair and buttoned his jacket before grabbing his hat and following Peter out the doors and towards the elevators.

~

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, finally giving voice to what’s been on his mind. They’re on their way to some cafe that Neal likes. Peter doesn’t care for it but he hopes it’ll lift Neal’s spirits…if that’s what he even needs.

“I’m fine.”

“Neal besides the crime scene today, you’ve been distracted. I could see it. You didn’t even get a single case file done and you breeze through those quicker than anyone I’ve ever seen. Look, Neal, I’m not going to make you talk but if you need to, I _am_ here.” Yeah that sounded typical and corny but it was true. If Neal needed him, he wanted to make sure that Neal knew he could count on him.

“I appreciate that Peter, I really do but there’s nothing to talk about. Can we just go?”

“Alright.” They continued to the cafe, silence between them. It was awkward and there was a tension in the air. Peter chose to ignore it and the closer they got the more that tension grew until finally Neal spoke up, stopping abruptly in his tracks.

“I told Paul that I love him!” 

Peter stopped and turned to look at him.

“And you didn’t mean it?”

“ _What_? Of course I meant it! Yeah, because I throw the words ‘I love you’ around at anyone. I tell the mailman I love him everyday. _Really_ , Peter?”

“Calm down. I only said that because usually when somebody tells somebody else they love them they’re ecstatic about it. When I told El I loved her for the first time I could barely keep it to myself,” Peter said. “Unless…did Paul not say it back?”

“He said it first actually.”

“I’m failing to see the problem then.”

“This is going to sound ridiculous, Peter, because it’s me but…” Neal took in a deep breath. “I’ve never told somebody I love them before. Romantically anyway.”

“You’ve never told somebody you love them before? You? Mr. Romantic?”

“I know,” Neal sighed. “The women and men I’ve been with before…that was just me messing around. Having fun, you know? So I never said it because I didn’t feel it. I thought I was in love with Nicky’s father but we didn’t work out and I realized I didn’t love him he just made me believe I did and I never got to say it during that time I believed it and it’s for the best that I didn’t.”

Peter was just looking at him, waiting for him to get it all out.

“Paul’s the first person I’ve felt like this with and got to say it. It feels strange so I guess I’m at a loss where we go from here.”

“You keep seeing each other like every other couple that finally says ‘I love you’ to one another and see where it leads.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“Then you move on to the next person,” Peter said bluntly.

“I can’t believe I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I’m taking relationship advice from you.”

“Married ten years, Neal. If any one of us should be taking advice from the other, it’s you.”

“Says the man who didn’t know what to get his wife of ten years for their anniversary.”

“It was one time,” Peter sighed, beginning to walk again.

“So if you forget again next year…”

“Drop it.”

~

The information that would be given to them the next day was unexpected and raised several questions.

“What’s up?” Neal asked, walking into the conference room that afternoon.

“Jones,” Peter said, indicating the man should start.

“A notebook was found by Homicide under some floorboards during a second sweep of the shop. It has some writing in it but nobody knows what it means. We believe it has something to do with our box but until it’s cracked we’ve got nothing there. On the other hand, that pawn shop owner and our thief, we know who did it.”

Neal gave Peter a sidelong glance which the other man returned.

“Medical Examiner recognized the work but looked into some other cases to make sure. His name is Julian Larson. He’s been connected to a series of murders but nothing has ever stuck so the charges were dropped. He’s working for somebody, he always is, if we can catch him we may find who is willing to kill for that music box.”

“I’d like to know what’s in it that’s worth killing for,” Peter said. “We’re working alongside Homicide for this one and any time we have where we’re not directly assisting them, I want to take a look at that music box.”

“You know who might be able to figure out the writing what’s inside the music box quicker?”

“Mozzie?” Peter inquired.

“Bingo.”

“Think you can get him into the building?”

“Not even if the rest of the world was on fire.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. We’ll schedule a time for him to see the music box at my house.”

“I’ll let him know,” Neal said, getting up and heading for the door.

“Neal, wait a second.”

“What is it?”

“You’re not going to be a part of this case anymore.”

“What?” Neal breathed in disbelief, stepping back from the door.

“We’re dealing with a professional hitman here, Neal. If you’re attached to this case when he catches wind that we’re onto him, he might go after you. I can’t risk you getting harmed. You have a son to worry about.”

“And you have a wife.”

“Neal.”

“Peter.”

“I’m sorry, Neal but this is how it’s going to be. You’ll be working mostly from home until this is over. I’ll have Jones bring you case files.”

“Peter come on, you can catch him faster with me.”

“Stop. I’ve already made my decision. This isn’t easy for me to do but I have to. Go home.” Neal wanted to argue further, he did, but a part of him told him to not even bother. It would be useless.

“Just don’t make it mortgage fraud cases, okay?”

“I make no promises.”

“That means it’s going to be mostly mortgage fraud.”

~

“And then he tells me I can’t be apart of the investigation anymore for my own protection,” Neal complained as he continued to walk back and forth in front of the TV up in the apartment loft. Paul watched as he did so, amused little smile on his face.

“Neal, I’m sorry to say but I have to agree with Peter on this decision.” Neal stopped to look at him.

“Et tu, Paul?” Paul chuckled.

“I can’t exactly disagree with someone who’s only trying to keep you safe,” he said. “So I’m on Peter’s side for this one. I’m sorry.”

With a sigh, Neal took a seat next to the man.

“It’s fine…but they could find him quicker if I helped.”

“I’m sure but I think Peter can handle it. He did catch you after all…twice.”

“You’re starting to sound like him now.”

“I wasn’t done,” Paul grinned. “Peter caught you but it took him years to do so because you’re smart. Peter is smart too and Larson…they already know who he is, how clever can he be? They can find him and I’m sure Peter will make something stick.”

“I think I’m beginning to know how Peter feels when Elizabeth is right.”

“Well, somebody has to be,” Paul joked. “And you know, Neal, with you working mainly from home now, that gives us more time together. No more stakeouts or late nights. For the time being anyway.”

“Maybe I’ll like not having to be on this case after all.”

They smiled at each other before Neal leaned in closer, pressing his lips to Paul’s who responded immediately to it. 

Just as their little make out session was becoming a little more serious and Neal was about to move to straddle Paul, the door suddenly opened and Nicky came running into the room excitedly.

Both men pulled away quickly and moved to sit down more casually as the boy came over.

“Daddy, look!” He held up an art book for Neal to see. “June and I got it today. Can I show you?”

“Of course you can.” The boy settled on the seat cushion between the two older men and flipped the book open, beginning to talk excitedly about the pictures inside.

Neal and Paul looked at each other for a moment. 

‘ _Another time_ ,’ Neal mouthed. Both were looking forward to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm still alive and apologize profusely for not updating anything in so long. I got wrapped up in working on original stuff, I do apologize and I'll be updating the other fics real soon!
> 
> You can also find me on my [blog.](http://artemiisiia.tumblr.com)


	13. Message

So I have not updated in a very long time. Now, I do plan to delete this story but a rewrite may be in the future. As well as all my White Collar stories. My writing has grown and I am simply not satisfied with the way the stories are written anymore. So I do hope you guys will keep your eyes peeled for rewrites of them in the future, or, if you enjoy my writing in general, keep an eye out for a new fic of mine that will be coming soon called Blood On Stone. It's for Marvel. I am endlessly grateful for all your support and kind words and kudos and bookmarks. I'm so sorry I let you all down with this news but the longer I keep these stories in limbo, the sadder it makes me. So while I adore these stories and rewrites are extremely possible, I must say goodbye to them for now. I hope you understand.

EDIT: Due to the comments I've received on this chapter. It will not be deleted but marked as orphaned instead to make way for the rewrite in the future.


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